THE CRUISE 



41 



was designed by Dr. Vening Meinesz of Holland and per- 

 haps was the most delicate instrument on board. It re- 

 corded photographically the swings of three pendulums and 

 recorded on the same paper the beats of a chronometer 

 whose rate was known with great accuracy. From this 

 trace the force of gravity at any place could be calculated. 



On the passage to Honolulu Dr. Moberg and Graham 

 divided the duties in the chemical laboratory, thereby 

 allowing Paul time to record for the pilot-balloon flights. 

 This relieved Captain Ault, for Scott now read off the 

 sextant altitudes. Graham was slightly handicapped in 

 his work because of an accident he had suffered a few 

 days out of port. As he emerged from the chart room 

 one day the heavy door was slammed shut by a sudden 

 lurch of the vessel and his finger was crushed in the 

 lock. 



The new triple-size bottom samplers, made up in 

 San Francisco, were a grand success. With these we 

 were able to secure about four pounds of material in- 

 stead of about one, thus making it unnecessary to make 

 multiple soundings when large amounts of deposit were 

 required. The new theodolite sent to us by the Navy De- 

 partment was a great improvement since the field of 

 vision was increased. 



Forbush gave the gravity apparatus its first trials. 

 As this instrument had never before been used on a sur- 

 face vessel, but only on a submarine, difficulties were 

 anticipated. They came--thick and fast. First, the 

 heavy rolling threw a pendulum out of its support. On 

 the next trial, it was found that the foot screws were not 

 rigidly enough clamped down. Then it became apparent 

 that some means must be devised for damping the motion 

 of the apparatus. Finally, it was decided that only a new 

 mounting would solve the difficulties. Notwithstanding 

 these setbacks, several useful records were secured. 



Heavy crosscurrents near the equator caused ap- 

 palling losses of oceanographic equipment. On October 

 11 two silk nets were lost when the tow wire jumped its 

 sheave and wore through. To avoid this trouble in the 

 future, the rubber shock-absorber rope was attached di- 

 rectly at theforecastlehead, eliminating blocks entirely. 

 The same day brought another accident, in which we lost a 

 complete bottom- sampling and bottom-temperature out- 

 fit, through the catching of a splice in the meter wheel. 



On October 19 we had to repeat the whole deep 

 series of chemical and temperature determinations, be- 

 cause a tiny piece of rope-yarn, caught by the messen- 

 ger in descending, had prevented it from reversing the 

 bottles. But on October 25 we were to suffer the most 

 serious blow of all. The confusing currents below the 

 surface entangled the bottom wire and the bottle series. 

 In clearing them, the new aluminum-bronze cable was 

 cut by catching on an outboard platform. We lost forty- 

 two hundred meters of wire, nine reversing bottles, and 

 eighteen of our precious deep-sea reversing thermome- 

 ters. Ve could ill afford such depletions in equipment, 

 so from this time on the thermal and chemical series 

 was not lowered until the bottom sampling was com- 

 pleted. This change almost doubled the time required 

 for a station. 



After Graham joined the party, the chemical pro- 

 gram was expanded to include determinations of sili- 

 cates, phosphates, oxygen, and hydrogen ions at each 

 station. With his help it was possible to add a vertical 

 haul of a silk net from one hundred and fifty meters, at 

 each station, besides occasionally checking the plankton 

 pump. The pump determined the number of organisms 



floating in the water and to check its efficiency one 

 filtered a known volume of sea water collected in a large 

 bottle through a small silk net, and counted the marine 

 plants and animals so captured. 



On November 10, it was decided to heave to in the 

 lee of Penrhyn Island to get a good measurement of the 

 force of gravity. The apparatus had not proved a suc- 

 cess on the open sea. This short stop enabled us to col- 

 lect biological specimens and diatoms from the lagoon, 

 and furnished a little recreation. This tiny atoll lies 

 about midway between the Marquesas and Samoa, and is 

 rarely visited by ships. The Carnegie had stopped there 

 on a previous cruise, so that we were certain of a wel- 

 come from the white resident, Mr. Wilson. He was a 

 castaway from the shipwrecked Derby Park in 1888, and 

 since he has never left the island. 



Once ashore we found, besides Mr. Wilson, a white 

 merchant named Wilkinson, whom we had met in Tahiti 

 in the spring; and a pearl trader by the name of Woonton. 

 These men at once prepared a grand feast for us, while 

 we rambled about the village, or fished the lagoon for 

 specimens. Our hosts regaled us with many a South Sea 

 yarn, as we sat on the verandahs drinking fresh coconut 

 milk. 



Two days later we made a similar call at Manihiki 

 Island; here the gravity measurements were not so suc- 

 cessful, owing to the swells coming in from the west. 

 The Resident Agent, Mr. Williams, an old friend of a 

 previous Carnegie cruise, gave us a hearty welcome to 

 his charming island empire. This atoll offered a strik- 

 ing contrast to Penrhyn. Immaculate coral paths divided 

 the neat little houses and flower gardens into "blocks." 

 The natives were well dressed; the coconut palms were 

 properly spaced and pruned for maximum production. 

 Everywhere were evidences of a fatherly care on the 

 part of old Mr. Williams. To the Carnegie this island is 

 remembered chiefly for its characteristic dance. On a 

 previous cruise photographs and moving pictures of this 

 unique performance were destroyed by an accident in 

 developing. And we were fated to lose ours for another 

 reason. 



We were now but a few days from Samoa, and the 

 fast-dwindling supply of gasoline was eked out by catch- 

 ing every breath of air that blew our way. Reports and 

 computations for the voyage about to close kept all hands 

 at work till late at night. 



The temperature of the ocean bottom had been meas- 

 ured at almost every oceanographic station since Hono- 

 lulu, but just outside Samoa we recorded our lowest- - 

 one and one-tenth degrees centigrade. Another interest- 

 ing observation was that in this region of long- continued 

 calms, the surface may be almost a whole degree warm- 

 er than the water five meters below it; differences of one 

 one or two hundredths degrees are usual, when winds 

 mix the surface layers. There was also a two-degree 

 diurnal variation at the surface due to the sunshine. 



The outstanding result of our echo sounding was the 

 discovery of a new submarine ridge just north of Hawaii. 

 We were able to show that there is no deep trough be- 

 tween Penrhyn and Manihiki, as the charts would lead 

 one to believe. The slopes of these two islands, as well 

 as that of Tutuila, were carefully plotted. 



Pilot-balloon flights had been very successful, 

 thanks to the fine skies and the new theodolite. This 

 instrument was so well adapted to conditions, that the 

 sextant chair designed by Captain Ault was seldom used. 



Radio conditions had been unexcelled throughout the 



