J:^0. 2.] WHITEAYES — ON DEEP-SEA DREDGING. 87 



The first cruise was on board the government schooner 'La 

 Canadienne,' and lasted three weeks. The ground examined on 

 this vessel was from Point des Monts (on the north shore of the 

 St. Lawrence) to the Mingan Islands, then round the west point 

 X)f Anticosti, and from there, in a diagonal line, to Gaspe Bay. 

 JS'ext, embarking on board the ' Stella Maris ' at G-aspe Basin, 

 we made an entire circuit of the island of Anticosti, sailing as 

 far to the north-west as Sawhill Point, on the north shore, and to 

 the south-east as the Mas^dalen Islands. We were driven to 

 Byron Island, one of the Magdalen group, by a "nor'-wester," 

 which of course prevented our dredging there. As these investi- 

 gations were entirely subordinate to the special duties upon 

 which the two schooners were engaged, dredging could only be 

 carried on at intervals, and in several cases the same ground was 

 gone over twice or more. 



On ' La Canadienne ' we had sixteen successful hauls of the 

 dredge. Of these, four were in 50 fathoms of water or less, 

 seven in between 50 and 100 ftithoms, and five in from 100 to 

 200 fathoms. 



On the ' Stella Maris ' we had nine successful hauls. One of 

 these was in less thau 50 fathoms, two were between 50 and 100, 

 and six between 100 and 250 fathoms. 



The deep-sea mud, in the places examined, is dotted over with 

 more or less water-worn masses of rock, usually of Lauren- 

 tian gneiss, varying in size from that of a pea to considerably 

 larger than a man's head. By a modification of the usual siev- 

 ing process, every organism, piece of rock, &c., larger than one- 

 sixteenth of an inch in diameter was first picked out from the 

 mud. A large bagful of the residue, from each locality examined, 

 was preserved for subsequent microscopic examination. Three 

 fourths of this mud was found to be a silt so impalpable as, when 

 wet, to pass readily through fine cambric ; the remaining fourth 

 ^consisted half of organic, and half of inorganic matter. The 

 organic matter comprised a few diatoms, multitudes of Foramini- 

 fera, some Polycystina, many sponge spicules, and fragments of 

 sotber organisms. The inorganic debris was a more or less coarse 

 kind of sand, made up of fragments of quartz, bits of felspathic 

 -rock, aiad small flakes of mica. 



Attempts were made to endeavour to ascertain the approximate 

 4«mperature of the deep-sea mud. When the dredge was hauled 

 >jap, its contents were emptied as quickly as possible into a large 



