196 THE SUNKEN LAND OF BUS. — POOLE. 



Volcanoes : That the region is volcanic, the presence of 

 obsidian leaves no doubt, and this conclusion is also suggested 

 by the records of the grapnel work when the ship was drifting 

 for the cable. Steep declivities were met with which required 

 a rapid paying out or taking in the grapnel rope. So rough 

 was the surface found to be in long. 34" 52' that that neighbor- 

 hood was abandoned and a fresh line of search was taken up. 

 Notes of some of the rapid changes in depth are to be found on 

 the chart, and the heio^hts of the hills above the surrounding 

 plain are stated as elevations of 100, 250, 500 and even 1200 

 feet. 



Mr. Adams further informs us that while lowering the 

 grapnal in one locality the tool struck an obstruction, hung for 

 a moment, and then fell over 300 feet more. He concluded 

 this was on the edge of a precipice and in consequence the 

 assumed contours at this point are set very close together. 



The following report by John S. Flett, D. Sc, F. R. S. E., on 

 the rock specimens and some of the oozes collected by the S. S. 

 " Minia " from the bed of the North Atlantic in 1903, is 

 extracted from an article by Sir John Murray, and is inserted 

 by the editor of the Transactions, although it appeared subse- 

 quently to the reading of the foregoing paper. 



Specimen a. — -S. S. '•'Minia," sounding 122, lat. 53' 12' 15" 

 N., long. 53° 44' W., 872 fathoms. Fine, buff-coloured, crystalline 

 limestone, without traces of organic structures. It ert'ervesces 

 readily with cold dilute hydrochloric acid, and under the micro- 

 scope consists of small crystals of calcite, forming a mosaic in 

 which there are brown patches stained with limonite. 



Specimen h. — S. S. " Minia," sounding 120, lat. 53° 8' 45" N., 

 long. 35° 42' W., 844 fathoms. Olivine basaU, fine grained, not dis- 

 tinctly porphyritic. It contains olivine, brownish augite, and 

 lath-shaped plagioclase, with iron oxides, and the structure is of 

 the " subophitic " type. Not vesicular. The olivine has weath- 



