1 78 THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA. [chap. iv. 



with his yacht 'Noma, 1 and with the aid of Mr. 

 Saville Kent, has thrown a good deal of additional 

 light upon the zoology of the 'warm area' off the 

 coast of Portugal. 



We left Stornoway on the 13th of September, and 

 in the afternoon dredged for a few hours in Loch 

 Torridon without much result. Late in the evening, 

 steaming down Raasay Sound, Ave came upon the 

 luminous forest of Pavonaria to which I have already 

 referred. At noon, on the 11th, we were abreast of 

 the Island of Mull, and on the 15th we were once 

 more moored in the Abercorn Basin, Belfast, where 

 we took leave of the ' Porcupine ' and our highly- 

 valued friends her captain and officers ; in the hope 

 of meeting them again shortly, and thoroughly 

 satisfied with the success of our summer's work. 



On the 21th of March, 1870, a letter was read at 

 the council meeting of the Royal Society from Dr. Car- 

 penter, addressed to the President, suggesting that an 

 exploration of the deep sea, such as was carried out 

 during 1SG8 and 1869 in the regions to the north and 

 west of the British Islands, should now be extended 

 to the south of Europe and the Mediterranean, and 

 that the council of the Royal Society should recom- 

 mend such an undertaking to the favourable con- 

 sideration of the Admiralty, with a view to obtain 

 the assistance of Her .Majesty's Government, as on 

 the previous occasions. The official correspondence, 

 with reference to the expedition of the summer of 

 1870, is given in Appendix A to the present chapter. 



It was intended, as on the previous occasion, to 

 divide this year's expedition into cruises; and again 

 Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys undertook the scientific direction 



