REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 77 



inquiry which more i)roperly ))elouged to her might be carried ou with 

 less iuterruption. The commanding' officer, however, was duly com- 

 missioned to board and inspect any pelagic sealers which he might 

 encounter, so as to afford the means of securing the important char- 

 acter of information only to be obtained in that way. Besides serving 

 for the transportation of the several persons detailed to conduct the 

 special researches relative to the fur-seal on the Pribilof and Commander 

 islands, as elsewhere explained, the work laid out provided for the 

 same character of observations as heretofore. The hydrographic fea- 

 tures of Bering Sea, both on the eastern platform and in the deeper 

 waters, were to be studied with reference to their bearing upon the 

 different fishery and sealing problems. The pelagic sealing investiga- 

 tions were to be made the principal feature of the cruise, and fishing 

 trials were to be conducted whenever the vessel was on suitable ground 

 for that purpose. Arrangements were also made to have Mr. Alex- 

 ander join one of the larger sealing schooners during the open season 

 for hunting in the sea, in order that he might confirm and extend his 

 observations of the previous season. 



Leaving San Francisco on May 18, 1895, the Albatross proceeded to 

 Victoria, B. (J., and Port Townsend, Wash., where several days were 

 spent in gathering information respecting the spring seal-fishery and 

 the iutention of the hunters relative to summer fishing in Bering Sea. 

 She was joined at Port Townsend by Mr. True and Mr. Prentiss, 

 bound for the Pribilof Islands. On June 1."* the vessel reached Una- 

 laska, where Mr. Stejueger reported on board for transijortation to the 

 Commander Islands. St. Paul Island was visited on June 24 for the pur- 

 jjose of landing Messrs. True, Prentiss, and Miller, and on the 26th of 

 that month the Albatross started for the Asiatic side, running a line of 

 soundings westward along the ])arallel of 50° N^. from longitude 177° 

 30' W., to which point her hydrographic surveys had previously been 

 carried. This work Avas still under way at the close of the fiscal year, 

 but enough progress had been made to show the comparatively uniform 

 level of the bottom across this part of the Bering Sea basin, the depths 

 ranging only from 2,050 to 2,105 fathoms, and the bottom consisting of 

 brown mud and ooze. 



During the fiscal year 1891-95 the Albatross was at sea 112 days and 

 steamed 13,181 miles. 



JOINT INVESTIGATION OF FISHERIES IN WATERS CONTIGUOUS 

 TO CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES. 



The investigation of the fisheries in the waters contiguous to Canada 

 and the United States, undertaken in accordance with the provisions 

 of the joint agreement of December 6, 1892, between this country and 

 Great Britain, was continued during the summer, fall, and spring 

 mouths and related chiefly to the chain of the Great Lakes and Lake 

 of the Woods, and to the mackerel fisheries. The two representatives. 

 Dr. William Wakeham, on the part of Great Britain, and Mr. Eichard 



