644 



REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



[40] 



Attention is called to the appended reports of the chiefs of the vari- 

 ous departments : 



Navigator's report, giving a summary of the distances steamed, ob- 

 jects of the cruise, number of soundings, dredgings, &c. 



Engineer's report ; medical department, sanitary report and record 

 of specific gravities ; naturalist's report, including lists of birds and 

 fishes taken in the Bahamas; list of hydrographic soundings ; and 

 dredging and trawling record. 



Navigator's report — Summary of the movements of the Albatross for the year 1886. 



The above table gives the number of days the vessel was at sea during the year ; also the distance 

 rnn and the object of each trip. The number of days at sea, 95. Number of dredging stations, 107. 

 Number of hydrographic soundings, 221. 



ENGINEER'S DEPARTMENT. 



Report of G. W. Baird, Passed Assistant Engineer, U. S. N., 1S86. 

 THE MAIN ENGINES. 



The engines have been in operation 1,160£ hours, while the ship was 

 on her course, in free route, besides the time occupied iu sounding and 

 dredging at sea, while the engines were worked to signal. 



The ship has steamed on her course 9,495 geographical miles — a mean 

 of 8.182 knots per hour. During this time the starboard engine made 

 4,652,279 revolutions and the port engiue 4,632,994, being a mean of 

 66.81 per minute for the starboard, and 66.53 for the port. 



The cruising has been made under easy steam, usually on a limited 

 allowance of coal. We are carrying the same boiler pressure (50 pounds 

 per square inch above the atmosphere) that we carried last year, but have 

 seldom run the engines up to the highest power obtainable with even 

 that limited pressure. The highest speed recorded for one hour during 



