THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN. 309 



penetrate. And what is more, these monster instruments have 

 revealed to iis, in those distant regions, forms or aggregations cif 

 matter which suggest to some the idea of the existence of physical 

 forces there that we do not imderstand, and which raise the ques- 

 tion in speculative minds, Is gravitation a universal thing, and 

 do its forces penetrate every abyss of space? Could we not 

 gauge the sea as well as the sk}^ and devise an instrument for 

 penetrating the depths of the ocean as well as the depths of 

 space ? Mariners were curious concerning the bottom of the sea. 

 Though nothing thence had been brought to light, exploration 

 had invested the subject with additional interest, and increased 

 the desire to know more. In this state of the case, the idea of a 

 common twine thread for a sounding-line, and a cannon ball for 

 a sinker, was suggested. It was a beautiful conception ; for, 

 besides its simplicity, it had in its favour the greatest of recom- 

 mendations, it could be readily put into practice. 



567. The great depths and failures of the first attempts. — ^Vell- 

 directed attempts to fathom tlie ocean began now to be made 

 with such a line and plummet, and the public mind was astonished 

 at the vast depths that were at first reported. Lieutenant Walsh, 

 of the United States schooner " Taney," reported a cast with the 

 deep-sea lead at thirty-four thousand feet without bottom. His 

 sounding-line was an iron wire more than eleven miles in length. 

 Lieutenant Berryman, of the United States brig " Dolphin," re- 

 ported another unsuccessful attempt to fathom mid-ocean with a 

 line thirtj^-nine thousand feet in length. Captain Denham, of 

 Her Britannic Majesty's ship " Herald," reported bottom in the 

 LSouth Atlantic at the depth of forty-six thousand feet ; and Lieu- 

 tenant J. P. Parker, of the United States frigate " Congress," 

 afterwards, in attempting to sound near the same region, let go 

 his plummet, and saw it run out a line fift}^ thousand feet long as 

 though the bottom had not been reached. There are no such 

 depths as these. The three last-named attempts Avere made with 

 the sounding-twine of the American navy, which has been intro- 

 duced in conformity with a very simple plan for sounding out the 

 depths of the ocean. It involved for each cast only the expen- 

 diture of a cannon ball, and twine enough to reach the bottom. 

 This plan was introduced as a part of the researches conducted 

 at the National Observatory, and which have proved so fruitful 

 and beneficial, concerning the winds and currents and other phe- 

 nomena of the ocean. These researches had already received the 



