98 



NATURE 



\yune I, 1876 



and then south and west of Little George Bank and into 

 Halifax on the 9th of May. In this run several soundings 

 were taken at depths of from 2,600 to 2,800 fathoms. The 

 bottom yielded chiefly grey ooze, and the course of the 

 Gulf Stream was crossed. Staying a week at Halifax to 

 recruit, the next section was made in almost a straight 

 line from Halifax to Bermudas, which was reached on the 

 30th of May, nine important stations having been selected 

 and examined on the way. A short time was passed at 

 Bermudas, and the next section it was determined to 

 make, was one between lat. 35° and 40" to the Azores. 

 Leaving Bermudas on the i-zth of June the Challenger \idcs> 



off Fayal on the ist of July, having successfully made obser- 

 vations at seventeen stations en route.. A small-pox epi- 

 demic having broken out at Fayal, it was not deemed 

 prudent to land. San Mieuel was visited, and the straits 

 between it and Santa Maria were explored, and the 

 Challenger on the loth stood for Fauchal, reaching it 

 on the 15th, having been now more than a month 

 at sea. Having made two sections right across the 

 Atlantic, all looked to enjoying a few days on land, but 

 it was not to be so, for most unluckily a rather severe epi- 

 demic of small-pox had broken out at Madeira also shortly 

 before, and Capt. Nares did not think it prudent to give 



F!l?""^!ir- 



Fig. 7. — Carica iaj>aya. 



leave ; accordingly on the i8th of July they commenced to 

 make a section along the West Coast of Africa. It was the 

 rainy season ; each day would bring them nearer to the 

 equator, and it was scarcely possible to look forward to 

 other than disagreeable times. On the 19th they were 

 off Palma Island, one of the Canaries ; then they bore 

 down on S. Antonio, one of the Cape Verd islands, and 

 were at St. Vincent on the 27th of July. 



The botany of this island, so noted in the old gazetteers 

 for its wood, water, wild goats, turtles, and saltpetre, was 

 carefully explored. As seen from the sea, the rocks pre- 

 sented a singular appearance, owing to the presence of a 



thick incrustation at water-mark ot masses of calcareous 

 algae, which either follow the forms of the rocks or occur 

 in rounded masses, their delicate tints of white, light 

 pink, or cream colour considerably heightening the effect. 

 These incrustations are frequently bored by Lithodomus 

 catidigerus and other molluscs, and small sponges and 

 Polyzoa occupy the cavities between them and the rocks. 

 Leaving the Cape Verd Islands, on the 13th of August 

 they were off the Bissagos Islands, and found bottom at 

 a depth of 2,575 fathoms. Continuing to cruise along 

 the coast, on the 14th they were west of the Loss Islands ; 

 on the 15th they passed Sierra Leone; on the 19th they 



