INVESTIGATIONS OF THE ALBATROSS. 15 



The following instructions for the cable survey were received October 

 1, 181)J • 



Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, 



WasMngton, September 22, 1891, 



Sir: When fully prepared for work, you will proceed with the vessel under your 

 coijiniaud to take deep-sea soundiugs between San Francisco, Cal., and Honolulu, 

 Hawaiian Islands, with a view to determining a suitable route for a submarine cable 

 between these ports. Soundings taken at alternate intervals of 10 and 2 miles will 

 be sufficient to demonstrate any irregularity of bottom. It may not be necessary, 

 however, to confine yourself to these distances; I merely give them as being such as 

 will insure with certainty the proi^er development. Should any unusual rise in the 

 bottom occur, it will, of course, need close examination to determine a feasible route. 



You Avill please keep a complete record of all resulting data for transmission to 

 the Department at the completion of the work, and will record upon appropriate 

 forms the latitude, lojigitiule, depth, nature of bottom, with frequent surface and 

 bottom temperatures, and occasional serial temperatures. 



The books and papers for the records will be furnished you from the Hydrogra})hic 

 Office, with a sheet showing tlie soundings taken by the Tascarora in 1875, from which 

 it appears that the desirable route is likely to be just to the northward of this line. 



By direction of the Secretary of the Navj'. 



Very respectfully, 



F. M. Ramsat, 



Chief of Bureau. 

 Lieut. Commander Z. L. Tanner, U. S. N., 



Commanding U. S. F. C. S. Albatross. 



The vessel was ready October 3, with the exception of a sui>ply of 

 wire, books, etc., which were to be furnished by the Hydrographic 

 Office. We waited for them until the 5th, then went to San Francisco 

 and coaled. The following telegram was received on the 6th from the 

 Chief of the Bureau of Navigation : 



Method of survey proposed letter September 27 approved. 



Monterey Bay to the Hawaiian Islands. — Messrs. C. H. Townsend, 

 naturalist, and A. B. Alexander, fishery expert, were assigned to tem- 

 porary duty on shore. We finished coaling on the 8th, having taken 

 on board 171f tons. Proceeding to sea at daylight the following morn- 

 ing, we arrived off Santa Cruz at 2:50 p. m., and SAvung ship under 

 steam, observing azimuths on every point to determine the errors of 

 compass, finally anchoring off the town for the night. A dense fog- 

 obscured the sun during the forenoon of the 10th, but passed off' at 2 

 p. m., when we swung ship for heeling error, fii'st with a starboard list 

 of 6° to 7^o, then with a like inclination to ijort, bearings being taken 

 on the cardinal points. The results were widely different from previous 

 observations, but they seemed reliable. The maximum heeling error 

 did not exceed one-quarter of a point. 



The first sounding of the survey was made at 9:45 a. m. on the 11th 

 of October in 52 fathoms, 2-J cables W. ^ N. (mag.) from the head of 

 Salinas Pier, a wooden pile structure about 150 yards in length; thence 

 to the beach a line of soundings was run by boat. Taking a south- 

 westerly course, following the submarine gully before mentioned, the 



