Narrative of Bahama Expedition. 9 



trol. This simple machine was found to be entirely adequate 

 to meet all demands which were made upon it during the 

 cruise, and was constructed by the Yale & Towne Manufactur- 

 ing Company of Stamford, Connecticut, at a ver}- reasonable 

 price. One thousand nine hundred and twenty feet of A x 7 

 cast steel rope was purchased of John A. Roebling's Sons & 

 Company, of Newark, New Jersey, the drum of the hoist- 

 ing machine being designed to comfortably accommodate that 

 length of cable. The single purchase only was used in hoist- 

 ing, unless the dredge hung on the bottom, when the double 

 purchase furnished enough power to bend the strongest 

 dredge frames used, or even the heavy iron bar of the 

 tangles. After leaving the bottom, the dredge or tangles 

 came up easily, the single purchase being used. We found 

 that a single haul, including lowering the dredge until all the 

 rope was out, dragging on the bottom for tvventy-tive 

 minutes, and reeling in again, usually took about an hour and 

 a half. Experience proved that four or five hauls of this 

 kind was about all that we cared to attend to in a da v. and 

 even that amount was at first no child's play, in tropical heat. 



In order to have something to fall back upon, should the 

 iron rope prove a failure or be lost, 225 fathoms of 2]/^ 

 inch Italian hemp rope was purchased of the Sew^ell & Dav 

 Cordage Company of Boston, Massachusetts. Although this 

 rope was never used for dredging, we found it useful, — indeed 

 indispensable, — in making tangles, our most effective instru- 

 ment, and actually used about half of this rope for that and 

 other incidental purposes, such as hanging the trawls, painters 

 for boats, etc. 



The trawls and dredges were all made in the University 

 machine shop, by Mr. William Powell, an engineering stu- 

 dent who accompanied the expedition, and proved an exceed- 

 ingl}- useful member of the part\'. The trawl frames were 

 made after the '• Blake "^ model, so far as shape is concerned, 

 but gas pipe was used as the easiest material to manage and 

 join securely. Agassiz says, " The trawl is by far the most 



I Agrassiz. " Three Cruises of the Bhtke," page 20. 



