42 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [40] 



iDto a fog, making- it necessary to feel our way very carefully. The 

 Vineyard Sound light-ship was sighted at 5 p. m., and taking our de- 

 parture from it we ran to the vicinity of Tarpaulin Cove and hove to 

 until 7 p. m., when, the fog lifting a little, we saw the light and stood in, 

 anchoring at 7.27 p. m. for the night. The wind veered to NW. soon 

 after, and the weather became clear and jileasant. 



At 4.43 a. m. the following morning, September 1, we got under way, 

 arriving in Wood's Holl at 5.20 a. m. The Secretary visited the wreck 

 of the Tallapoosa during the day, and on his return was met by Com. 

 J. G. Walker, Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, and Chief Constructor 

 T. D. Wilson, who came here by direction of the Secretary to confer 

 with him on matters pertaining to their respective Bureaus. The party 

 remained on board during the night, leaving by train on the morning 

 of the 2d, when the Secretary's flag was hauled down and the work of 

 the Commission resumed. 



The wire on the working reel was overhauled and splices renewed 

 where they showed signs of wear. Fires were hauled and repairs com- 

 menced on the starboard boiler. We coaled ship on the 3d, taking on 

 board 79f §^ tons. Eepairs on the boilers were completed on the even- 

 ing of the 4th, and at 4.20 p. m. on the 5th we cast oif from our moor- 

 ings and started for an oiishore dredging trip. Passing No Man's 

 Land at 7 p. m. we laid a course S. | W. per compass, intending to 

 reach a depth of about 1,500 fathoms by 9 a. m. the following morning. 

 The night was exceedingly pleasant, with moderate SW. wind, a smooth 

 sea, and the full moon shining brightly in a cloudless sky. 



At 9 a, m. on the following morning we sounded in 1,525 fathoms, 

 latitude 39° 05' 30" N., longitude 70^ 44' 30" W., and at 9.57 put the 

 trawl over with wing-nets and mud-bag attached. It was landed on 

 the bottom at 11.34 a. m., with 2,200 fathoms on the dredge-rope, dragged 

 until 12.39 p. m., and landed on deck at 2.13 p. m. after an unusually 

 rich haul. At 2.20 p. m. we sounded again in 1,537 fathoms, latitude 

 390 03' 15" N., longitude 70° 50' 45" W., and at 3.03 p. m. put the trawl 

 over with wing-nets and mud-bag attached, as usual, veering to 2,300 

 fathoms on the dredge-rope. It was landed on deck at 7.51 after a 

 successful haul, and at 7.53 we started ahead full speed on a southerly 

 course to deepen the water. 



Although this report is intended merely to chronicle the movements 

 of the ship and the mechanical operations performed in procuring 

 specimens, leaving the purely scientific data in the hands of the natur- 

 alists, it may not be out of place simply to mention some of the princi- 

 pal objects of interest. In our hauls to-day a large quantity of foram- 

 iuifera was procured, not only in the mud-bag secured to the tail of 

 the trawl-net, but in the trawl itself; particularly in the first haul. 

 Immense numbers of small ophiurans were taken in both hauls, the 

 lower portion of the trawl-net being literally covered with them ; sev- 

 eral specimens of small brachiopods exceedingly rare in this region 



