vi DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN 



associated with me in oceanographical investigations in the 

 Norwegian Sea, likewise received the proposal with enthusiasm. 

 A large part of the winter of 1909-10 was spent in making the 

 necessary rearrangements on board the ship, in the selection 

 and installation of new apparatus and instruments, and in 

 choosing the routes where we might expect to get the most 

 interesting results. 



By the ist of April 19 10 the ship was fully equipped and 

 ready for sea. The first port of call was Plymouth, where 

 Sir John Murray embarked, and the last piece of apparatus — 

 a large centrifuge — was installed on board. After being 

 hospitably entertained by scientific men in London and 

 Plymouth, we sailed on the 7th of April for the south-west of 

 Ireland, where it was arranged that we should occupy our first 

 observing station. The ship worked down the western coasts 

 of Europe as far as the Canaries, then proceeded across the 

 Atlantic, by way of the Azores, to Newfoundland, afterwards 

 re-crossing from Newfoundland to the coast of Ireland, and 

 returned to Bergen by way of the Faroe Channel. About 

 1 20 observing stations were established, and the expedition was 

 in all respects successful. 



It was agreed that the zoological and all other collections 

 and observations made during the cruise should be sent to 

 Bergen, Sir John Murray generously agreeing to provide ^500 

 to enable the collections to be sorted out and arranged for 

 study by specialists. 



It was further arranged that a general account of the cruise 

 and of the results of the observations should be published as 

 soon as possible after the return of the expedition, and this 

 volume has accordingly been prepared. Its main object is to 

 indicate the most important results of the voyage in so far as 

 these can be stated at the present time, although the biological 

 collections and the physical observations have as yet only been 

 examined in a preliminary way. In preparing the various 



