310 



THE LAST CRUISE OF THE CARNEGIE 



We had been trying to lay a course which would take us past 

 Penrhyn and Manihiki Islands but the wind continued to make 

 that difficult. On the third Captain Ault suggested that unless 

 the wind veered around he might consider calling at Christmas 

 Island instead, for it lay well to leeward. This would have 

 enabled us to make a gravity-determination in quiet waters and 



Scientific Results from Oceanographic Stations Numbers 161 and 162 



would have given us a chance to visit the domain of Father Rou- 

 gier, our host in Tahiti. However, a day or two later brought 

 a fair breeze for our intended course and we proceeded south- 

 westward. 



We were taken by surprise on November 8. At seven-thirty 

 A. M., the sonic depth-finder gave a sounding of fifty-two hundred 

 meters. During the station, beginning at eight A.M., the lowest 



