632 REPORT OF COiJAIISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Later iu the season, wbeu, after long and weary uegotiations, I bad 

 succeeded iu hiring a yacht at Christiaussuud, with a view of making 

 observations on the outer banks, wbich had never yet been examined, I 

 was hindered a great deal by the very stormy weather. I deplored this 

 all the more as I had looked for great results from these very observa- 

 tions. I had to hire the yacbt for a certain time and pay so much per 

 day whether I used it or not. The weather about this time happened to 

 be extremely changeable. It might be quite calm and suddenly a storm 

 would come up, and this would be repeated several times a day. Al- 

 though I clearly saw that the weather could not be relied on, it seemed a 

 great disappointment, after having hired the yacht and prepared every- 

 thing, to lie still on shore ; and I therefore resolved to go to sea in spite 

 of the weather, hoping that possibly there might be a change. But the 

 storms continued, there was a high sea and a strong current, so the time 

 which I could actually devote to observations was very limited indeed; 

 and after having braved a terrible storm off Hustadvigen I was compelled 

 to seek the small harbor of Smorholmen, near the Kvitholm light-house. 

 The most provoking circumstance was that the following day the 

 weather was perfectly calm and beautiful, but that I could not make use 

 of it as there was not wind enough to take my vessel out to sea. The 

 next day it was raining and storming again, and I was forced to return 

 to Christianssund. After having rested a day 1 resolved to make one 

 mere attempt during the few days that the yacht was still at my dispo- 

 sal; but I was unsuccessful again, and as the strong current toward the 

 north threatened to drive my vessel toward the dangerous and but lit- 

 tle-known waters off Smolen, I had to return without having accom- 

 plished anything. On our return voyage we got in a thick fog near the 

 remarkable reefs called the "Nightingales," which extend for miles ; 

 fortunately we escaped without injury, with the only exception that some 

 panes of glass in the cabin sky light were broken by the waves. 



Although both these trips were failures on account of the weather, I 

 nevertheless made several observations which were of the greatest in- 

 terest to me. On my first trip I reached a point in the open sea about 

 8-10 Norwegian miles west of Christianssund. One forenoon, when 

 the weather was tolerably calm, I noticed a jjlace where the bottom rose 

 considerably, and was very rocky. I immediately let down my boat and 

 put out the line, which I had constantly kept prepared and baited with 

 fresh fish, in order to ascertain whether there were any fish on this ele- 

 vation, which I took for a continuation of the large ridge (" Storeggen "). 

 But the current was so violent that the yacht was soon driven so far away 

 from the boat that there was the greatest danger iu delay, and I was 

 compelled to haul it in although it had scarcely been more than half an 

 hour iu the water. I did not expect to see anything on it. All the more 

 surprised was I to find that nearly every other hook had a good-sized 

 fish. My haul was really so large that even my men, who were all old 

 and experienced fishermen, were very much astonished. Seventy-seven 



