CHAPTER XXIII. 



1871-1872: iE2T. 64-65. 



Sailing of the Hassler. — Sargassum Fields. — Dredging at 

 Barbadoes. — From the West Indies to Rio de Janeiro. — 

 Monte Video. — Quarantine. — Glacial Traces in the Bay 

 of Monte Video. — The Gulf of Mathias. — Dredging off 

 Gulf of St. George. — Dredging off Cape Virgens. — Pos- 

 session Bay. — Salt Pool. — Moraine. — Sandy Point. — 

 Cruise through the Straits. — Scenery. — Wind Storm. — 

 Borja Bay. — Glacier Bay. — Visit to the Glacier. — Choro- 

 cua Bay. 



The vessel was to have started in August, 

 but, owing to various delays in her comple- 

 tion, she was not ready for sea until the late 

 autumn. She finally sailed on December 4, 

 1871, on a gray afternoon, which ushered in 

 the first snow-storm of the New England win- 

 ter. Bound for warmer skies, she was, how- 

 ever, soon in the waters of the Gulf Stream, 

 where the work of collecting began in the 

 fields of Sargassum, those drifting, wide-spread 

 expanses of loose sea-weed carrying a countless 

 population, liOiputian in size, to be sure, but 

 very various in character. Agassiz was no 



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