76 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE CARNEGIE 



This meant that the messengers descended too slowly to reverse 

 the bottles. Under conditions of this kind it is impossible to 

 determine accurately the depth of each bottle from the length 

 and angle of the wire, so the pressure-thermometers we carried 

 became indispensable. 



The first week had been wet, but the second was rough as well, 

 for we struck a series of gales, some reaching storm force. When 

 the first one came, on May 18, those who had boasted of having 

 found their sea-legs had a disconcerting surprise. Torreson 

 scored twice. During the afternoon, while taking the time-sight 

 on the quarterdeck, he was thrown violently from his feet and 

 landed with a crash against the rail. His presence of mind saved 

 the sextant, for as he sprawled down the deck he thrust the in- 

 strument beneath the rail and held on until he could collect him- 

 self. Only a few hours later, in the cabin, he was thrown back- 

 ward out of a chair, and against the bureau in his stateroom. 

 Only the fact that his door was open saved him from serious 

 injury. 



Paul meanwhile had braced himself at a computing desk in 

 the chart-room. When a sudden lurch hurled him out of his 

 seat, he grabbed the table-top and saved himself from a crash. 

 But his desk was wrecked, for the wood gave way and split clean 

 down the middle, spilling ink and papers over chart-room floor. 



By this time the first watch-officer had become disgusted with 

 our unseamanlike behavior, and greeted each flop with picturesque 

 language. It was a breach of etiquette to enter the chart-room 

 from the windward side, as this invariably blew all the papers off 

 the computers' desks. Occasionally one of the party would break 

 the rule, only to meet Mr. Erickson's withering look, and to hear 

 him mutter some remark about farmers on board! 



The third oceanographic station, on May 23, brought its dif- 

 ficulties. The deep-series of sample bottles failed to reverse 

 because some fibrous deep-sea organism, possibly a siphonophore, 

 arrested the messenger on its way down. We thought this an 

 unusual event at the time, but it was to prove one of our com- 

 monest annoyances. 



That same night we watched the barograph make its first real 



