178 THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA. [CHAP. IV. 
with his yacht ‘Norna,’ and with the aid of Mr. 
Saville Kent, has thrown a good deal of additional 
light upon the zoology of the ‘warm area’ off the 
coast of Portugal. 
We left Stornoway on the 18th of September, and 
in the afternoon dredged for a few hours in Loch 
Torridon without much result. Late in the evening, 
steaming down Raasay Sound, we came upon the 
luminous forest of Pavonaria to which I have already 
referred. At noon, on the 14th, we were abreast of 
the Island of Mull, and on the 15th we were once 
more moored in the Abercorn Basin, Belfast, where 
we took leave of the ‘ Porcupine’ and our highly- 
valued friends her captain and officers; in the hope 
of meeting them again shortly, and thoroughly 
satisfied with the success of our summer’s work. 
On the 24th of March, 1870, a letter was read at 
the council meeting of the Royal Society from Dr. Car- 
penter, addressed to the President, suggesting that an 
exploration of the deep sea, such as was carried out 
during 1868 and 1869 in the regions to the north and 
west of the British Islands, should now be extended 
to the south of Europe and the Mediterranean, and 
that the council of the Royal Society should recom- 
mend such an undertaking to the favourable con- 
sideration of the Admiralty, with a view to obtain 
the assistance of Her Majesty’s Government, as on 
the previous occasions. ‘The official correspondence, 
with reference to the expedition of the summer of 
1870, is given in Appendix A to the present chapter. 
ft was intended, as on the previous occasion, to 
divide this year’s expedition into cruises; and again 
Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys undertook the scientific direction 
