200 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE CARNEGIE 



preceding our arrival in Peru we were unable to communicate 

 with headquarters. 



On January 8 we made one of the salient discoveries of the 

 cruise. A sounding of 13,000 feet had been made during the 

 night, but the usual eight o'clock sounding was omitted because 

 the "shot-gun" was out of order. When the depth was deter- 

 mined at ten o'clock it was found to be only 4,700 feet! By noon 

 it had shoaled to 3,900 feet and Captain Ault gave orders to heave 

 to for a wire-sounding. But the wire-length and pressure-ther- 

 mometers checked the sonic depth very nicely. A sample of 

 globigerina ooze was taken at the same time. We thus confirmed 

 the finding of a great submarine mountain ridge, rising to 10,000 

 feet above the general level of the surrounding ocean-floor — 

 almost as high as the Andes. Thirty miles beyond, the soundings 

 again gave 13,000 feet. 



This new ridge was named in honor of Dr. J. C. Merriam, 

 President of the Carnegie Institution. Captain Ault believed 

 that it was a northern extension of the peaks which break through 

 the ocean surface at San Felix and San Ambrosio, 140 miles away. 

 It was a great disappointment to us that our time was too limited 

 to explore this interesting region more thoroughly. 



Shortly after meeting the Antartico we had picked up the south- 

 east trades. These steady winds drove us along in fine style 

 toward Callao. However, the sky became overcast as we neared 

 the coast, interrupting our declination-observations and the 

 balloon-flights. It was even difficult to get good time-sights for 

 determining our geographical position. Frequently we were 

 able to use the stars for this purpose when the sun had been ob- 

 scured all day. 



If the heavily clouded sky interfered with the magnetic and 

 astronomical observations, it offered ideal conditions for com- 

 paring the electrical resistance-thermometers of the multithermo- 

 graph. The steady wind and absence of direct sunlight on the 

 instruments made the readings reliable. To make these stand- 

 ardizations, Paul would climb up to the cross-trees or have him- 

 self hoisted to the main truck in a bo'son's chair. At thirty-second 

 intervals, timed to coincide with the recorder in the control-room, 



