198 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE CARNEGIE 



For five days we logged only 44 miles a day. The gasoline supply 

 was getting so low that it was not possible to use the auxiliary 

 engine. Two weeks of head-winds leaving Panama, and two 

 months' operation of the electric generators had left us little for 

 pushing our way through calms. Of course, it was not possible 

 to buy gasoline in Easter Island! On these long voyages we 

 found that the power-requirements for oceanographic work, radio, 

 and lighting used almost as much fuel as the main engine. 



At our ocean-station on January 3 we varied our plankton-work 

 by lowering a large silk-net to 1000 meters. The surface-water 

 was so rich with life that the net was almost burst with the haul. 

 There were salps, medusae, and ctenophores, but the most in- 

 teresting part of the catch was an enormous stocking-like colony 

 which we have not yet identified. It was a beautiful object when 

 we separated it from the rest of the catch. It filled a small bucket 

 by itself and looked as though it were made of pink-colored 

 tapioca pressed out into a long hollow tube. 



On the next day we experienced the most remarkable coinci- 

 dence of the cruise. At sunset someone reported smoke on the 

 horizon. In our nine weeks in the Pacific we had seen only one 

 ship, so that it was an event to see even smoke on the horizon. 

 There was a premonition in everyone's mind that this ship was 

 the Antartico, bound for Easter Island. However, that would be 

 absurd. We were three hundred miles out of our course. She 

 was to have left Valparaiso on December 20. And in any case, 

 her course would not bring her into this region. Nevertheless, 

 at dusk, our suspicions were verified and the Antartico came 

 alongside for a friendly visit. 



The Captain had never before been to Easter Island and was 

 surprised beyond belief to hear that we had just cleared from that 

 place. He had not been informed that it was we who had sent 

 the radio to the company's office in Valparaiso. A torrent of 

 anxious questions was shouted across the water to Captain Ault. 

 Was there a good anchorage.^ Could he get water.'* Was there 

 a supply of coal.'' The answers were not reassuring. We told 

 him that we had had to leave precipitatedly because we had 

 lost our anchor and that he would find no supplies there. 



