T02 



NATURE 



\June I, 1876 



Zealand, gave a bottom of grey ooze at 1,100 fathoms, 

 and the other, midway between the Kermadecs and 

 Friendly Islands, gave red clay at a bottom of 2,900 

 fathoms ; the other dredgings and soundings were in 

 depths of from 3 to 600 fathoms, and many of the 

 former yielded an abundance of animal life. 



On the loth of August the Challenger left for Api, one 

 of the least known of the New Hebrides, and on the 

 18th anchored off the island. Capt. Nares had given a 

 passage from Fiji to eleven men of Api, and two or three 

 of the officers, with an armed party of marines, took the 

 returned labourers on shore. The natives appeared 

 somewhat mistrustful, and were armed with clubs, speirs, 

 and bows with sheaves of poisoned arrows ; so that it 

 was not thought prudent to go into the forest. The 

 natives were almost entirely naked, and were of rather a 

 savage and forbidding aspect, Fiom Api the Challen^et's 

 course was to the norch-westward, towards Raine Island, 

 which is in a breach of the great barrier reef not far 

 from the entrance to Torres" Straits, A sounding on the 

 19th, in lat, 16° 47' S,, long. 165° 20' E,, at a depth of 

 2,650 fathoms, with a bottom of red clay, gave a bottom 

 temperature of i°7 C. (35 F.), A serial temperature 

 sounding was taken to the depth of 1,500 fathoms, and it 

 was found that the minimum temperature (i"7 C.) was 

 reached at a depth of 1,300, and that consequently a 

 stratum of water at that uniiorm temperature extended 

 from that depth to the bottom. 



Serial temperatures were taken on the 21st. 24th, 25th, 

 27th, and 28ih of August, in 2,325, 2,450, 2,440, 2,275, ^i^^ 

 1,700 fathoms respectively, and in each case the minv- 

 mam temperature of i°7 C. extended in a uniform layer, 

 averaging 7,000 feet in thickness, from the depth of 1,300 

 fathoms to the bottom. The area over which this tem- 

 perature existed has been called the " Melanesian Sea," 

 and it is evident that there is na free communication 

 between it and the outer ocean to a greater depth than 

 1,300 fathoms, the encircling barrier being complete up 

 to that point. The animals procured in this sea were few 

 in number, but sufficient to show that the existence of a 

 fauna is not impossible in the still bottom-water of such 

 an inclosed area, though, as in the Mediterranean, such 

 conditions do not appear to favour life. 



On the 31st Raine's Island was visited, and found to be 

 just as described by Jukes ; a collection of ihe birds breed- 

 ing there was made, and the next day, the I st of September, 

 the ship was at Cape York. Proceeding thence across the 

 Arafura Sea to the Arii Islands ; Dobbo, a town on the 

 Island of Wamma, was reached on the i6th. After a 

 few days spent in shooting some birds of Paradise and 

 getting an idea of the natural history of the place, they 

 proceeded to Ke Doulan, the principal village in the K^ 

 group, thence to the Island of Banda, where they remained 

 a few days, and thence to Amboina, which was reached 

 on the 4th of October, In some of the dredgings be- 

 tween Kd and Amboina a wonderful assemblage of forms 

 were met with, not only new Pentacrinoid forms, but 

 many new vitreous sponges — Echinoderms, Crustacea, 

 &.C. From Amboina they went to Ternate, and thence 

 across the Molucca Passage into the Celebes Sea, by the 

 passage between Bejaren Island and the north-east 

 poiiit of Celebes. Crossing the Celebes Sea, Zamboanga 

 was reached on the 23rd ; and the Sulu Sea on the 

 26th. Capt. Chimmo's observations on this basin-sea 

 were confirmed. Hollo was visited on the 28th, and 

 proceeding by the eastern passage round Mindoro, Manila 

 was made on the 4th of November, and after a short 

 Slay at the Philippines, Hong-Kong was made head-quar- 

 ters for a time. During the Challenger's stay here Capt. 

 Nares received a telegram offering him the command of 

 the Arctic Expedition. This was a great blow to all of 

 the party. Though sorry to part with one who had so 

 far brought the expedition successfully on its way, the 

 importance was fully recognised of having a man of his 



character and experience in command of the North Pole 

 Expedition. Capt. Thomson, who v,'as already on the 

 China Station in command of the Modeste, took Capt. 

 Nares's place. 



1875 



Hong-Kong was left on the6ih of January, with the inten- 

 tion of sailing to the region of the Equator, then making a 

 series of stations parallel to it, for a distance of some 2 000 

 miles, and eventually going north to Japan. Proceed- 

 ing to the middle of the China Sea, a series of tempera- 

 ture soundings were taken, the temperature at the bottom 

 of 1,200 fathoms being 36° F. This is accounted for by 

 Chimmo's statement that the China Sea is cut otf, by a 

 barrier rising to a height of 800 to 900 fathoms below the 

 surface of the water, from communication with the waters 

 of the Antarctic Ocean. Passing along the west coast of 

 Luzon, the Challenger enitred the Panay Sea, where further 

 observations were made ; visiting Zebu, the first known 

 locality for the '• Venus Flower-basktt," where some fine spe- 

 cimens of this sponge were obtained in the dredge. Next 

 the ship made for the little island of Cainaguin — between 

 Mindanao and Bohol — toinspect the activevolcanothereon. 

 This volcano was ushered into existence on the ist of May, 

 1871, and presented at the time of the Challenger's visit the 

 appearance of an irregular cone of 1,950 feet in height ; 

 its base was gradually extending, and. had covered the 

 town of Catarman. From Camaguin the Challenger went 

 along the west coast ot Mindanao to Zamboanga, which was 

 (for the second time) reached m the last week of January 

 (29th). A little party of sportsmen were sent off to camp 

 out in the forest within riding distance of the ship ; visits 

 were paid to them from time to time, and they thoroughly 

 enjoyed their brief sojourn in the heart of a most exquisite 

 little bit of tropical scenery, and surrounded by multitudes 

 of monkeys, galeopitheci, and many more of the strange 

 denizens of such woods. Thus was a pleasant week spent, 

 and with some regrets Zamboanga was left on the 8th of 

 February. The following day was spent in the strait 

 between Mindanao and basilan. The view of both islands 

 from the strait was extremely beautiful from the luxuriance 

 of the vegetation which filled up the gullies and mantled 

 over every basalt ridge and peak up to their very summits. 

 On the 9th the party were off Cape Sarangan and in view of 

 Balat, the finest of the Sarangani Islands, with a fine 

 volcanic cone thickly wooded to the top. On the loth 

 they had a very successful haul of the dredge off the 

 Island of Tulur, in 500 fathoms, getting many specimens 

 of three or four species of Pentacrinus, with stems two or 

 three feet high. About this time the wind felt very light 

 and uncertain, and a strong current was setting them 

 down towards the coast of New Guinea. The coal supply 

 was running short, and was required for dredging and 

 sounding up to Japan, the nearest place for a fresh 

 supply ; so Capt. Thomson determined to make for Hum- 

 boldt Bay. On the 21st of February, still drifting south- 

 wards, they were opposite the delta of the great river 

 Ambcrnoh, which rises in the Charles-Louis Mountains, 

 a splendid range in the interior of New Guinea, upwards of 

 16,000 feet high, and falls into the sea at Cape D'Urville, to 

 the east of the entrance of Geelvink Bay. N ight was faUing 

 on the 23rd as the Challenger cast anchor just within the 

 headlands of Point Caille and Pomt Bonpland. Next 

 morning, shortly after daybreak, the ship was surrounded 

 by about eighty canoes, each from 15 leet to 20 feet long, 

 and with crews of from four to six men each. There 

 were no women or children among them. The men were 

 unusually good-looking for Melanesians, and wonderfully 

 picturesque ; they seemed on an average about 5 ft. 4 in. 

 in height, features tolerably good, nose rather thick and 

 flat, eyes dark and good, expression agreeable, mouth 

 large, and lips rather full ; betel and chinam- chewing had 

 oer^troyed their teeth and dyed their gums crimson, and 

 their ear-lobes were greatly lengthened by earrings. Their 



