52 THE GERMAN ARCTIC EXPEDITTOX. 



200 (nautical) miles distant from it. As regards tlie 

 observations made on the true currents,'' as well as on 

 tlie arseometrical reading of the quantity of salt held in 

 solution in them, it is not our province to enter upon 

 their discussion here. Regarding the former, however, 

 we soon had lively witnesses in the shape of drift-wood, 

 small pieces of which passed us on the evening of the 

 6th of July ; and two days later we saw a large knotted 

 tree ; but on the high sea it was impossible to make our- 

 selves masters of it. 



In order to gain more exact information regarding the 

 surface-currents, it has long been the custom to throw 

 out a corked bottle containing a piece of paper, on which 

 is written the exact time and place of immersion. If a 

 seaman sees this bottle in the water, he picks it up, 

 noticing the time and place, and forwards the paper to 

 the place mentioned. With this view we threw out 

 bottles from time to time. 



The soundings, from the period of our leaving the 

 remarkable shallowness of the North Sea, showed a tole- 

 rably uniform descent in the bottom of the sea as far 

 as the island of Jan Mayen, and farther on to the 

 borders of the ice. From eighty fathoms it went on 

 to 130 and 270 (2nd July), 406 fathoms (3rd July), 

 569 on the 4th, and 1066 fathoms on the 7th of July. 



Whilst the Physicists were thus making a commence- 

 ment of their labours, and the crew were pretty well 

 occupied with soundings, the Zoologists found many 

 opportunities for collecting and observing. From the 



* By comparison of the direct ustronomical observations of position 

 with the partially indirect resnlts obtained by the reckoning of the 

 lo<;. 



