454 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [vOL. 45 



Dr. J. H. H. Pirie, Surgeon and Geologist ; Dr. R. N. R. Brown, 

 Botanist ; Mr. D. W. Wilton, Zoologist ; Mr. Allister Ross, Tax- 

 idermist ; Mr. W. A. Cuthbertson, Artist. 



" The Scotia left Scotland on November 2, 1902, and, after stops 

 at Madeira and the Falklands for coal, met the ice on February 2, 

 1903, in 59° S. lat., 40° long. W. (approximate). She then visited 

 the South Orkney islands and thence made a cruise of about 5,000 

 miles to the south and east between longitude 16° W. and 45° W. 

 and as far south as 70° 25'. In this region a deep sea was found 

 of an almost uniform depth of 2,500 fathoms, the deepest sounding 

 being 2,739 fathoms. Trawls were lowered several times in these 

 depths and brought up fishes, star-fishes, sea-lilies, sea-cucumbers, 

 sponges, crustaceans, shell-fish, and smaller organisms. Tempera- 

 tures, salinities, currents, and the color of the sea were observed at 

 all depths from the surface to the bottom. 



" This cruise ended on March 25, 1903, the Scotia having covered 

 about 4,000 miles of previously unexplored sea. The ship anchored 

 in a bay in Laurie island. South Orkneys, since named Scotia bay, 

 and before the end of the month was beset and frozen in for the 

 winter, not being released until November 24, 1903. During this 

 time a house was built and a meteorological observatory (first class) 

 was established, as well as a magnetic observatory. Throughout 

 the winter baited sea-traps were set through a hole in the ice which 

 secured a large number of zoological specimens and no less than 

 2,000 pounds of fish for food. Every day, except when severe 

 weather prevented, a dredge was dragged by means of a continuous 

 rope and two holes cut through the ice and cleared from day to day. 

 Four expeditions were made during the spring, three with sledges 

 and one with boats for purposes of hydrographic and land survey. 

 As a result of these expeditions and of survey work in the vicinity 

 of the ship a 25-inches-to-the-mile map of Scotia bay and a 2- 

 inches-to-the-mile map of the rest of Laurie island and the adjacent 

 islands were prepared. During this local survey about 500 sound- 

 ings were taken — almost every one of them involving cutting 

 through ice from 3 to 5 feet thick. 



With the exception of the chief engineer, who died of heart- 

 disease, all the members of the expedition and crew enjoyed excel- 

 lent health. Mr. Bruce attributes this largely to the fact that, in 

 preference to preserved meats, penguins and fish and, in the spring, 

 penguin eggs in liberal quantities were eaten. 



" The Scotia left the South Orkneys on November 27, 1903, and 

 arrived at Port Stanlev December 2 and at Buenos Aires December 



