CHAP. 11.] THE CRUISE OF THE ‘ LIGHTNING, 59 
we were compelled to lie-to under canvas, drifting to 
the northward towards the edge of the F#roe Banks, 
any attempt to dredge being out of the question. 
On the 13th, during a lull, we sounded and found no 
bottom at 450 fathoms (Station 1, Pl. I.), with a 
minimum temperature of 9°5 C., the temperature of 
the surface water being 12°5 C. This was so high a 
temperature for so considerable a depth that we sus- 
pected some error in the indications of the thermo- 
meters, three of Six’s registering instruments of the 
Hydrographic Office pattern. Subsequent observa- 
tions, however, in the same locality showed us that 
the temperature to the depth of 600 or 700 fathoms 
in that region is the moderate temperature of the 
northward current of the gulf stream. 
The Féroe Banks are greatly frequented in the 
fishing season by English and foreign fishing-smacks. 
Of course the principal object is to prepare cured or 
hard-fish, but many of the English vessels are welled 
for the supply of fresh cod for the London market. 
A large square tank occupies the middle of the 
vessel, and holes in the sides allow the water to pass 
freely through it. The water in the tank is thus 
kept perfectly fresh; the best of the cod are put into 
it, and they stand the voyage perfectly. It is curious 
to see the great creatures moving gracefully about 
in the tank like gold-fish in a glass globe. They are 
no doubt ‘quite unaccustomed to man,’ and conse- 
quently they are tame; and with their long smooth 
mottled faces, their huge mouths, and lidless un- 
speculative eyes, they are about as unfamiliar objects 
as one can well see. They seem rather to like to 
be scratched, as they are greatly infested by caligi 
