REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 19 



devolving upon tlie ship would permit. The patrol fleet rendezvoused 

 at Port Townsend, Wash., where the Albatross arrived May 24. She 

 finished coaling" at Coniox, British Columbia, May 31, and proceeded 

 northward by the passage inside of Vancouver Island to tlie open waters 

 of the Pacific Ocean, where her patrol work began. The vessels of tlie 

 fleet were so disi^osed as to cover the track of the seal herd and sealing 

 vessels bound north, but the A Ihatross was given the western or oft"-shore 

 route, which placed her outside of the usual course taken by the seals, 

 and none were observed between Vancouver Island and Kadiak. 



The first sealing vessel was eu countered off the southern edge of 

 Portlock Bank, and St. Paul, on Kadiak Island, was reached June 7. 

 From this point, on the following day, the Albatross began working to 

 the westward, boarding such pelagic sealers as were met with and warn- 

 ing them, in accordance with the tem^iorary agreement between Great 

 Britain and the United States, to refrain from carrying on their opera- 

 tions in Bering Sea. On arriving at Sand Point, Shumagin Islands, 

 where the sealing vessels often congregate, it was found that none had 

 yet reached that place. Continuing to the westward as far as Amukta 

 Pass, and there entering Bering Sea, the ship proceeded to Unalaska 

 for coal and thence returned to Sand Point, boarding several vessels on 

 the way, one of which proved to be a cod-fishing schooner bound for 

 Slime Bank, oft" the north side of Unimak Island. 



Some time was spent among the Shumagin Islands, and the principal 

 harbors were visited. Mist Harbor, on the east side of Nagai Island, a 

 secure and convenient anchorage, was surveyed for the first time, and 

 advantage was taken jay the naturalists at each stop to obtain as much 

 information as possible respecting the fishes and other marine animals 

 of the region. Leaving Sand Point on June 2G, the ship proceeded to 

 Unalaska, and thence along the Bering Sea side of the Aleutian Islands, 

 entering the Pacific Ocean through Amukta Pass, near which she -was 

 at midnight of June 30, the close of the fiscal year. 



Owing to the long delay in port, in consequence of the extensive 

 repairs made necessary by previous service, the Albatross was only 75 

 days at sea during the year, but the distance steamed amounted to 

 9,610 miles. Prof. B. W. Evermann, who acted as chief naturalist 

 during the first cruise made on behalf of the Treasury Department, 

 left the ship after his return from Alaska in August, 1892. The per- 

 manent civilian staff consisted of Charles H. Townsend, naturalist; 

 A. B. Alexander, fishery expert; and N^. B. Miller, laboratory assistant. 

 The two former were attached to revenue vessels during the summer 

 of 1892, but were with the Albatross during the remainder of the year. 



No trawling or hydrographic work was carried on except during the 

 short trial trip off Monterey, in April, 1893. Meteorological and density 

 observations were continued, however, during the entire year, and a 

 record was kept of all surface animal life and drift material observed at 

 sea. Full details of the operations of the ship are given in the report 

 of Commander Tanner, forming an appendix to this volume. 



