Nakkative oi-' 15AnA>rA Expedition. 73: 



water was on its wav to the surface. The number of willing- 

 hands on board made it possible to work short shifts, the men 

 ^^■orklng■ in pairs in regular rotation, each pair making thirt\- 

 turns of the crank, the next pair immediateh' taking their 

 place at the thirtieth tin^n. It was necessary for one man to 

 stand in front of the machine with a stick as a lever to guide 

 the rope so that it reeled regularly and did not pile on the 

 drum. Others got out buckets, tul)s, sieves and jars, in which 

 to assort the proceeds of the haul. As the tangles neared the 

 surface an anxious group of watchers stood along the rail. It 

 must be confessed that this was a time of very great but sup- 

 pressed excitement. We hardly dared hope that the first haul 

 would be successful, and were indeed prepared to work for a 

 week, if necessary, before giving up our cherished hope of 

 obtaining the much prized •• sea-lilies." Although assuring 

 each other that success must not be expected on this iirst 

 attempt, there was eager expectancy on every face that leaned 

 over the rail to catch the first glance of the returning tangles. 

 At last a dim vellowish blotch appeared way down in the blue 

 depths, then one of the sinkers, and finally the bar broke above 

 the surface amid breathless silence. The next moment a 

 shout of triumph, for there, clinging to the hempen strands., 

 were over a score of the graceful pentacrini. It was well 

 that no phonograph recorded the wild rhapsodies with which 

 we fondh' and caressingl}^ disentangled our prizes from the 

 hempen meshes, placing them as soon as possible into sixty 

 per cent, alcohol, as advised by Mr. Benedict. 



During the four days spent on the pentacrinus grounds we 

 made fifteen hauls, mostly with the tangles, dredging down 

 the slope from one hundred and twenty-five to two hundred 

 and sixtv fathoms, and securing about one hundred and fifty 

 specimens of these handsome crinoids. Peiitam'iiits in'iiUeri 

 and P. dcconis were the most abundant, but two beautiful 

 specimens of P. astcn'a were secured, besides a very small 

 Poitarrinns which n:av be new.^ When fresh. P. ii/Ytlh'ri \& 



1 Ur. CharU's \\';u-hsmutli. the Nt-tcran autluiritN' on ciinoids, kiiullx- idL-ntitit'cl. 

 thc'^f sijecics for us. 



