338 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



The Lucas sounding machine was fitted aft on the starboard side (for the officer to 

 read the dial easily), and the starboard towing bollard was fitted with a flat padded top 

 for the leadsman to sit on. A light pedestal, about 2 ft. high, was made for the machine, 

 and the leadsman was thus not compelled to bend so much and could do spells of half an 

 hour or more of deep sounding without undue fatigue. Two machines, each of the 

 400 fathom size, were carried, and when fitted as described above, were found to work 

 perfectly, unless very carelessly handled. The best weight of lead was found to be about 

 10 lb., but varied somewhat with the depth, owing to the decreasing leverage as the wire 

 unwound from the drum. This was difficult to overcome, but if necessary a light touch 

 had to be kept on the jib head to help ease the hand brake. Care of course was necessary 

 when doing this, as, if the wire is allowed to overrun, a great deal of time is wasted in 

 clearing it, and some wire is almost certain to be sacrificed. Various schemes were thought 

 of to pick up bottom samples, but none were found to improve on the old-fashioned 

 tallow arming, either in time saving (which is important when the soundings have to be 

 kept equidistant) or in efficiency. The worst drawback was that the tallow froze iron 

 hard ; but a spare tin of it was kept on the engine exhaust pipe and changed every now 

 and again. The tallow never failed to pick up bottom samples. 



The pram, a 14 ft. boat, was always towed and was of course used for getting ashore. 

 It was useful also during passage to carry an extra supply of petrol in drums. She was 

 an excellent little boat, but floated like a saucer and was quite unmanageable in a 

 breeze, having no keel ; otherwise she was a very handy type, easily handled by one man, 

 and light for hauling up on a beach. She was also used for shallow in-shore sounding, 

 but was naturally both uncomfortable and diflicult to keep on the line. 



¥ our fire extinguishers were fitted: one in the cockpit at the helmsman's hand, one 

 at each end of the engine room, easily accessible to the motorman, and one in the fore- 

 cabin just by the engine room door. These precautions were fully justified, as during 

 the first season, owing it is supposed to backfires, the petrol in the save-all under the 

 carburettor caught fire on many occasions when starting, but was extinguished without 

 difficulty. 



A sea anchor was made and rigged, although it was never used in emergency. 



The scope of chain cable supplied with the boat (10 fathoms \ in.) and a 30 lb. anchor 

 were entirely inadequate, and would, in fact, be inadequate anywhere. Here 20 fathoms 

 of I in. is the least that should be used, and even that, I am inclined to believe, would 

 not suffice always. We invariably moored, except when the stop was temporary, with 

 two 60 lb. anchors and 20 fathoms each of | in. cable to the most exposed quarter, and at 

 least one other anchor in the opposite direction. During the first season we carried five 

 30 lb. anchors w^eighted with about 30 lb. of lead near the crown, 2 lengths of 20 

 fathoms | in. galvanized iron cable, 2 lengths of 20 fathoms \ in. cable, together with the 

 original 10 fathoms \ in. cable. During the next season we had in addition one length 

 of 40 fathoms \ in. cable, which was kept bent to the bower anchor. In the event of a 

 breakdown nothing less would have been of much value, owing to the depth of water 

 being often so great, quite close to the shore. Fortunately, we never had to use the 



