foundland to 

 Glasgow 



114 DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN 



the summer growth periods and winter stagnation periods in 

 the scales of cod which we procured from the French fishermen. 

 Scales (see Chapter X.) illustrate the growth of the cod by 

 means of " summer-belts " and " winter-rings," Those which we 

 examined had extremely distinct winter-rings, and although it 

 was already July, the summer-belt for the year had not yet 

 commenced. It must therefore have been the winter season 

 still down in the deep water where the cod were taken — and this 

 though we were in the latitude of Paris and the month was July. 



On 3rd July the "Michael Sars " anchored in the harbour 

 of St. John's. 

 From New- It was our Original intention to go from Newfoundland to 



Reykjavik in Iceland, as this was the nearest coaling station 

 on our way back to Europe, and we hardly expected when 

 starting on our expedition that the little ship would be able 

 to steam right across the Atlantic without having to put in 

 anywhere for coal. We had now, however, formed such a 

 favourable opinion of her seaworthiness, and her coal-con- 

 sumption had been so small, especially on the voyage from 

 the Azores to St. John's, that we decided to venture across the 

 ocean without a stop. The distance from Fayal to St. John's 

 by the way we had come was about 1800 nautical miles, and 

 from St. John's to Ireland was roughly 2000 miles, so that the 

 difference was not so very formidable. 



As far as our scientific work was concerned, the direct route 

 to Ireland was bound to be the more interesting. It is true 

 that very little is known about the sea leading to Baffin's Bay, 

 but the physical conditions, and therefore also the animal life, 

 are presumably very uniform and not likely to differ much from 

 the conditions prevailing to the eastward of the Newfoundland 

 Bank. The direct route to Ireland, on the other hand, would 

 give us a fresh section across the Atlantic, and enable us to 

 study the varying conditions in the northerly portion of that 

 ocean. Another reason for selecting this route was the possi- 

 bility of again studying the remarkable conditions in the Gulf 

 Stream observed on our southern section between Stations 64 

 and 70 (see Fig. 93). We therefore filled up our bunkers once 

 more and piled the deck with the best coal we could procure, 

 prepared ourselves for as long a cruise as the ship was able to 

 accomplish, and left St. John's on the 8th July. 



The water-masses of the North Atlantic may be roughly 



