CHAP. II1.] TENERIFFE TO SOMBRERO. 191 
Some of our party, using the towing-net and collecting gulf- 
weed on the surface from a boat, brought in a number of things 
beautiful in their form and brillianey of coloring, and many of 
them strangely interesting for the way in which their glassy 
transparency exposed the working of the most subtle parts of 
their internal machinery; and these gave employment to the 
microscopists, in the dearth of returns from the dredge. Our 
position was now lat. 19° 57’ N., long. 538° 26’ W.; Sombrero 
distant 558 miles. 
Sunday was a lovely day. The breeze had fallen off some- 
what, and the force was now only from 2 to 8. The sky and 
sea were gloriously blue, with here and there a soft gray tress 
on the sky, and a gleaming white curl on the sea. <A pretty 
little Spanish brigantine, bright with green paint and white 
sails, and the merry, dusky faces of three or four Spanish girls, 
came in the morning within speaking distance and got her 
longitude. She had been passing and repassing us for a couple 
of days, wondering, doubtless, at the irrelevancy of our move- 
ments, shortening sail, and stopping every now and then in 
mid-ocean with a fine breeze in our favor. On Monday morn- 
ing we parted from our gay little companion. We stopped 
again to dredge, and she got far before us, and we saw with 
some regret first her green hull, and then her white sails, pass 
down over the edge of the world. 
The sounding on Monday, the 10th, gave 2675 fathoms, with 
a bottom of the same red clay, with very little calcareous mat- 
ter. The bottom temperature was 1°°6 C., that of the surface 
being 23°°3 C. The smaller dredge was sent over at 7.15 a.m. 
with 8000 fathoms of line, four hempen tangles, and a leaden 
weight of 28 pounds, about three fathoms below the dredge. 
The dredge was hauled up at 4.50 p.m. with only a very small 
quantity of red mud sticking about the chain and the mouth of 
the dredge. There could be no doubt, from the appearance of 
the dredge-bag, that it had contained a quantity of the perfect- 
