NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE 



239 



busily engaged in casting and polishing. On March 26 we were 

 startled by a loud explosion in the engine-room. One of the air- 

 tanks had blown up. The end had smashed its way through the 

 bulkhead into the gasoline tank-room, while the tank itself jumped 

 aft, out of its cradle, and landed against the air-compressor. For- 

 tunately the mechanic on duty was uninjured, and no equipment 

 was too seriously damaged for immediate temporary repairs. 

 The accident was apparently due to weakness in the tank, as the 

 safety-valve was in good working order. 



Tahiti Has a Magnificent Coast-line 

 An automobile road encircles the island — the peaks of Moorea are seen to the right. 



During the night of March 28, a sudden squall carried away the 

 starboard royal-sheet, and through the din of the heavy rain on 

 the deck, we could hear the sailors aloft making fast the damaged 

 rigging. The next day we succeeded in following a j^ilot-balloon 

 for over seventy minutes. This represents an altitude of almost 

 eight miles, certainly a good record for a small vessel like the 

 Carnegie. 



On March 31 we passed the uninhabited Rose Island, the eastern 

 outpost of the Samoan Islands. This tiny speck in the archipelago 



