CHAP. V.]| DEEP-SEA SOUNDING. ‘ 
bo 
23 
commanded by a brake. The reel held about 4,000 
fathoms of medium No. 2 line of the best Italian 
hemp, the No. of threads 18, the weight per 100 
fathoms 12 lbs. 8 ozs., the circumference 0°8 inch, and 
the breaking strain, dry, 1,402 lbs., soaked a day 
1,211 lbs., marked for 50, 100, and 1,000 fathoms. 
The weather was remarkably clear and fine; the 
wind from the north-west, force = 4; the sea mode- 
rate, with a slight swell from the north-west. We 
were in lat. 47° 38’ N., long. 12° 08’ W., at the 
mouth of the Bay of Biscay, about 200 miles to the 
west of Ushant. The sounding instrument, with two 
Miller-Casella thermometers and a water bottle 
attached a fathom or two above it, was east off the 
letting-go frame at 2h. 44m. 20s. p.m. The line was 
run off by hand from the reel and given to the 
weight as fast as it would take it, so that there might 
not be the slightest check or strain. The following 
table gives the absolute rate of descent :— 
I, | 
| : Fathoms. Time. Interval. Fathonis. Time. Interval. 
ls We. IEP m. § hStmrers: m. s. 
) DEA 2) — 1300 258 5 23 
100 DAH 25 0 45 1400 299 30 1 32 
200 2 45 45 0 40 1500 a ft 79 Sy 
300 2 46 30 Q 45 1600 3. 2A if Sis) 
400 2 47 25 OF ary 100 See bea) ey 
500 2 48 15 OPD0™ || 7 1800 3-6 6 ay 
| 600 2 49 15 1 O 1900 Sede 1 87 
ROOF 250) 24 1" 1 9 2000 ao 0 409), hag 
800 Dwolie2ome i Oe oo 2100 ay ALL BA Th ee 
900 2 52 45 1 22 2200 oelisa2e |) bd 
LOOON 2 b4 0 ia BS) 2.300 a td 23 1 59 
1100 Deo ooo 1-21 2400 Smile 1 oy 
j 2 56 42 1 21 2435 Selvin 0 40 
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