HUSVIK AND BUSEN FJORD 305 



in fact several sounding lines had to be repeated entirely on account of various errors 

 that were made ; but as practice gave more confidence the speed became satisfactory. 



As occasion offered, true bearings were obtained from S to H (Fig. i) and a round of 

 bearings with a 6-in. Dover compass was obtained for variation, from the same spot. 



Owing to lack of men the tides could not be watched hourly, but a tide-pole was 

 erected at the pier, and readings obtained when necessary. The rise and fall being only 

 3 ft. at springs it was only in Husvik Harbour itself that the tide affected soundings 

 sufficiently to repay watching. During the sounding of the harbour an occasional visit 

 would be paid to the tide-pole and a reading taken. The tide-pole was of simple 

 construction, consisting of a wooden batten 7 ft. x 6 in. x l in., marked alternate black 

 and white for the feet and long and short lines for the inches (Plate XLI, fig. 2). 



Sounding was carried out entirely by Lucas machine on account of the depth. One 

 of the difficulties experienced was the freezing of the lubricating oil in the dial and of 

 water on the reel, while the tallow for arming the lead for bottom samples also used to 

 freeze. When the dial froze up it had to be exchanged (we carried a spare one) and 

 thawed in the engine room; ice could nearly always be broken off the reel. The tallow 

 was kept soft by storing it on the engine exhaust until required. 



The Lucas machine was fitted on the transom facing aft, and the leadsman sat on the 

 starboard towing bollard fitted with a pad. In this position the machine was found to be 

 too low, but a stand was made for it and it was then quite convenient for use. The 

 springs had to be watched carefully, as, if the boat was bumping at all in a sea it would 

 make the wire run and check (by taking the weight off the springs), and if the springs 

 were eased back too much there was a fair chance of the wire over-running and giving 

 half an hour's work to clear it ; this happened frequently at first. The best weight for the 

 lead was found to be 10 lb. It is to be remembered that the depth sometimes varied from 

 6 to 60 fathoms in the same line of soundings, and it was thus not possible to adapt the 

 machine to any expected depth. 



Observations for position were not considered of primary importance, since the 

 former positions at Leith Harbour and Cape Saunders could be connected up with 

 those of the present operations. This was just as well, for the weather was singularly 

 bad and much time would have been wasted. 



The coast-line was walked over only at Husvik, as it was considered that the 

 remainder was not sufficiently important to justify the time necessary. It was found in 

 practice that a good approximation could be sketched in at the ends of the lines of 

 sounding, by joining the small sounding marks which had been fixed already by 

 theodolite angles, and with additional tangents to other objects. 



The positions of all the more important peaks were fixed and their heights computed, 

 and the contour lines were then sketched in roughly. The country being so mountainous, 

 to do more would have entailed enormous and perhaps hazardous labour with no 

 commensurate result. 



The survey presented no intrinsic difficulties, but was much hampered by bad 

 weather. Out of 30 days (Sundays also counted, as we could not afford to neglect any 



