chap. v.J DEEP-SEA SOUNDING. ±27 



if not quite as great as any to be found in the other 

 ocean basins, it may probably be taken as a fair 

 example of ordinary conditions. It is open from 

 pole to pole, and thus participates in all conditions 

 of climate, and it communicates freely with the 

 other seas. We have still but scanty information 

 about the beds of the Indian, the Antarctic, and the 

 Pacific oceans, but the few observations which have 

 hitherto reached us seem to indicate that neither is 

 the depth extreme in these seas, nor does the nature 

 of the bottom differ greatly from what we find nearer 

 home. The Mediterranean — a closed cul-de-sac 

 almost cut off from the general ocean — is under 

 most peculiar circumstances, which Avill be discussed 

 hereafter. The general result to which we are led 

 by the careful and systematic deep-sea soundings 

 which have been undertaken of late years by our 

 own Admiralty and by the American and Swedish 

 Governments, is that the depth of the sea is not so 

 great as was at one time supposed. I have already 

 mentioned that in some of the earlier sounding expe- 

 ditions enormous depths were registered from various 

 parts of the Atlantic, and I have also mentioned the 

 reasons, depending chiefly upon defective appliances, 

 why many of these soundings are now considered un- 

 trustworthy. Lieutenant Berryman, of the U.S. brig 

 ' Dolphin,' reported 4,580 fathoms (27,480 feet), equal 

 to the height of Dwalagiri, in lat. 41° 7' N., long. 

 49° 23' W., half-way between New York and the 

 Acores; 'no bottom' at 4,920 fathoms (29,520 feet), 

 deeper than the height of Deodunga, the highest 

 peak in the world, in lat. 38° 3' N., long. 67° 14' W.; 

 and ' no bottom ' at 6,600 fathoms (39,600 feet), 



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