INVESTIGATIONS OF THE ALBATROSS. 269 



rejoin the vessel, aud Assistant Eugineer A. M. Hunt, U. S. N., was 

 ordered to relieve liim, reporting June 9, at wkich time the former was 

 detacLed. 



June 1*5 orders were received from the Navy Department reducing 

 the number of the crew from 07 to 53 men after June 30. 1891, and also 

 giving new ratings. The i)roposed crew would be able simply to navi- 

 gate the vessel, but could not carry on the work for which she is em- 

 ployed. Authority was subsequently received from the Commissioner, 

 however, to employ the additional men required to make the vessel 

 efticient, placing them on the Fish Commission rolls. The necessary 

 changes were made immediately. 



Engines and boilers were tested at a dock trial Juue 27 and, much to 

 our gratification, everything worked smoothly and satisfactorily. We 

 went to San Francisco on the 29th and docked at the Union Iron 

 Works the following morning to scrape and paint the vessel's bottom, 

 which had become exceedingly foul during her cruise in tropical waters. 

 We expected to dock at the navy-yard, but the dry-dock was required 

 very unexpectedly for a French frigate which arrived a few days pre- 

 viously, needing extensive repairs. 



The Albatross was in dry-dock at the end of the fiscal year when 

 this report should j)roperly close, yet it seems advisable to state that 

 we were preparing for a season's work in Bering Sea, aud would have 

 sailed early in July had the vessel not been diverted from her Avork to 

 convey the United States commissioners to the Seal Islands, We left 

 San Francisco on the evening of July 10, having on board Dr. Thomas 

 C. Mendenhall and Dr. C. Hart Merriam, United States commissioners, 

 en route for the Pribilof Islands, Bering Sea, 



Summary of icorl- and condition of equijiment. — The following brief 

 summary gives in a graphic form a resume of the work of the Albatross 

 for the fiscal year 1890-91 : 



Number of days at sea 135 



Distance run by observation, in l\;not8 15, 314 



Distance run by log, in knots 15, 706 



Number of deep-sea soundings 377 



Number of dredging stations 153 



Number of iishing stations 95 



Number of specitic-gravity stations 330 



Number of serial-temperature stations 35 



Number of submarine tow-net stations 19 



Mr. Charles H. Townsend, resident naturalist, has prosecuted an 

 extended investigation regarding the oyster industry of San Francisco 

 Bay and adjacent waters, having performed the work while the vessel 

 w^as in port. All i)ractical aid has been rendered him. 



The deep-sea sounding apparatus has worked satisfactorily, although 

 Ave have met with some losses. Our heaviest reel was disabled during 

 the winter's cruise, involving the loss of several thousand fathoms of 



