114 SPECIMENS OF CORAL BROUGHT UP. 



duced. When, however, that occurred, the ves- 

 sels arighted and settled in the water to their 

 proper draft. 



From the 12th to the 19th we had westerly 

 winds, and thick foggy weather, with some hard 

 showers of rain, and the ice remained so close 

 that for nearly a week we saw neither land nor 

 water. Our soundings increased from 80 to 300 

 fathoms ; from which it was judged that we were 

 driving to the westward, as the water shoaled 

 in the opposite direction ; and this we afterwards 

 found to be correct. From these depths we 

 brought up several species of living zoophytes, 

 a star-fish, a lobster, a piece of sponge, and a 

 branch of dead coral attached to a stone. 



That a coral of this species, the growth of 

 which is generally limited to a mild climate, 

 should be brought up from a great depth in the 

 latitude of 80° north, may form a subject of 

 curious speculation to the naturalist. 



We certainly know of no current in the At- 

 lantic save that of the strongest part of the gulf- 

 stream, which could transport such a stone, with 

 its appendage, so many miles from the supposed 

 place of its growth ; and if we did, the tender 

 ramification of its perfect branches would not 

 permit the conclusion that it had suffered such 

 a violent mode of transportation. The inference, 



