chap, ii.] THE CRUISE OF THE ' LIGHTNING: 77 



ing gear, the ' Lightning ' once more steamed out of 

 Stornoway Harbour on tlie 14th of September. 



After a fine run of 140 miles in a north-westerly 

 direction from the Butt of the Lews, a sounding was 

 taken on the morning of September 15th, in lat. 

 59° 59', long. 9° 15', with a bottom of Atlantic ooze, 

 at a depth of 650 fathoms (Station 14). Still running 

 north-westward sixty miles further, another sound- 

 ing was taken on the 18tli, at 570 fathoms, when the 

 scoop of the sounding instrument brought up scarcely 

 anything but entire Globigerina?, like the finest sago. 

 Eifty miles further, in the same direction, bottom 

 was found at 650 fathoms ; but on this occasion 

 the sounding-lead and three thermometers were 

 unfortunately lost in hauling up, so that tbe tem- 

 perature was not ascertained. A haul of the dredge 

 was taken, however, at this great depth, 120 fathoms 

 deeper than at any of the previous stations, perfectly 

 successfully, the dredge bringing up 2J cwt. of very 

 viscid greyish white mud. The mud was everywhere 

 traversed by the long glassy root-fibres of anchoring 

 sponges, and about 50 fathoms from the dredge there 

 were two white tufts of such fibres sticking to the 

 rope, no doubt pulled off the ground, as they en- 

 tangled in their meshes some ophiurids, some small 

 crustaceans, and one or two tube-forming annelids. 

 In the mud was a remarkable sea-pen, which Pro- 

 fessor Kolliker, who has undertaken the description 

 of such things procured in our several expeditions, 

 refers to a new genus under the name of Bathy- 

 ptilum carpenteri) and some large foraminifera. 

 Dr. Carpenter now stood due north, wishing to get 

 into the deep trough between the Hebrides and 



