1870.] MISCELLANEOUS. 463 



of which the expedition will remain for some time, for the purpose 

 of solving certain important problems relating to both the deep-sea 

 fauna and to that of the coast. It is next proposed to spend at 

 least a month in the Straits of Magellan during the summer 

 season of that portion of the globe. The work at the Straits 

 being completed, the party exp&ct to pass up along the western 

 coast of Chili, next to the island of Juan Fernandez, and thence 

 across to Callao. From this point the course will be to the 

 Gallapagos, and thence across the Chillian current to some point 

 on the west coast of Mexico — possibly to Mazatlan. The llevil- 

 lagigedo Islands will next be visited, whence the party will proceed 

 to San Francisco. 



The entire exploration will probably occupy ten months, and 

 bids fair to be the most important attempt ever made, at 

 determining the character of the fauna of the deep seas. The 

 experience gained in all the former American and foreign expe- 

 ditions of this kind will be freely used on this occasion ; and no 

 pains will be spared in the way of outfit to render the whole 

 undertakinc; an entire success. 



The fact that this expedition is under the direction of the Coast 

 Survey is a sufficient guarantee that nothing will be neglected to 

 secure satisfactory results in the way of investigations upon the 

 physics of the ocean, as well as its natural history, as it is 

 intended to make use of the most approved apparatus for the 

 determination of depths, temperatures, chemical composition of the 

 waters, etc. — Nature, 



A Cruise in a Whitebait Boat. — I know of nothinc; more 

 disagreeable than having the traditions one has clung to from boy- 

 hood nipped in the bud by the practical hand of some seeker after 

 science. "Who, I should like to know, cares to be told that turtle 

 soup is a decoction of cold-blooded reptile, or that venison hung 

 the right time to acquire tenderness and flavour is simply animal 

 matter undergoing a chemical change, and that the silvery 

 whitebait we, at this time, so thoroughly enjoy when nicely cooked 

 with just a dash of cayenne, are neither more nor less than the 

 ' fry ' of the herring. I have always eaten and enjoyed these 

 tiny dainties, in the pleasant belief that a whitebait was a white- 

 bait, and my own impression has always been that it was quite 

 as well known, and ever}'- bit as easy to recognize, as a salmon, a 

 cod, or a turbot ; but far from it, for the learned in fish at ooce 



