358 PERCY SLADEN TEUST EXPEDITION. 



soundings to the west of the track of H.M.S. ' Sylvia ' in 1872-73 from the Seychelles 

 northwards towards the coast of Africa near Cape Guardafui. In 1891 H.M.S. ' Pen- 

 guin ' took a considerable number of soundings off the west coast of Australia, between 

 latitudes 23° and 33° S. ; in 1899 and 1900 off the south coast of Australia from Cape 

 Leuwin to Hobart Town in Tasmania ; and in 1901 in the same region to the north of 

 the last route from Esperance Bay to Bass Strait. 



In 1888 S.S. ' Ilecorder ' made a number of soundings between Bali Strait in the 

 Sunda Islands and Boebuck Bay on the north-west coast of Australia. 



The work done in the Bay of Bengal is now so extensive that there are very few parts 

 of the Bay in which soundings have not been made. The Arabian Sea has also been well 

 surveyed, except in its most central portion. The earliest work in these regions, as 

 already mentioned, is that of H.M S.s ' Cyclops,' ' Hydra,' and ' Serpent ' ; somewhat later, 

 in 1876, S.S. ' Nassau ' made several soundings in the Malacca Straits and the Bay of 

 Bengal, and in 1886 the Indian Marine Survey steamer ' Investigator ' began the work 

 of sounding and dredging in the Arabian Sea off the west coast of India and in the Bay 

 of Bengal, which has been continued up to the present time. 



Trom 1888 onwards the following ships have taken soundings in the Bay of Bengal 

 and the Arabian Sea : — 



In 1888 S.S. ' Sherard Osborn,' Bay of Bengal and channel between Nicobar Islands and Sumatra. 

 In 1888 and 1890 S.S. 'Recorder,' Bay of Bengal and channel between Nicobar Islands and 



Sumatra. 

 In 1890-91 S.S. 'Chiltern,' Arabian Sea, Aden to Bombay. 

 In 1891 S.S. 'Sherard Osborn/ Bay of Bengal and Malacca Straits. 

 In 1891 S.S. ' Britannia/ Bay of Bengal. 

 In 1891 S.S. ' Seine/ Bay of Bengal. 

 In 1903 S.S. 'Electra/ Arabian Sea, Aden to Bombay. 

 In 1904 S.S. ' Recorder,' Bay of Bengal. 

 In 1906 S.S. ' Duplex/ Gulf of Aden. 



In 1907 various steamships of the Eastern Telegraph Company, Arabian Sea. 

 In 1907 H.M.S. ' Sealark,' ofE Ceylon. 



In the years 1899 and 1900 Mr. J. Stanley Gardiner conducted an expedition to 

 the Maldive and Laccadive Archipelagoes, for the purpose of studying the coral-reefs 

 and their fauna, and brought home an extensive series of lagoon deposits. In 1901 

 [the late] Dr. Alexander Agassiz also visited the Maldive Archipelago in pursuance of 

 his study of the coral-reefs of the world. 



In the Mozambique Channel and off the east coast of Africa work has been done by 

 several of the Eastern Telegraph Company's ships, including S.S. ' Great Northern ' 

 between 1882 and 1891, S.S.s ' Amber ' aud ' Duplex ' in 1906, and S.S. ' Sherard 

 Osborn ' in 1907, and by H.M.S. ' Stork ' in 1889 and H.M.S. ' Rambler ' in 1900 ; 

 and H.M.S. ' Waterwitch ' sounded about lat. 40° S. to the south of the Cape of Good 

 Hope and Madagascar in 1895. 



