33« 



NATURE 



\Aug. 17, 1876 



west the bottom temperature was found to be 46°'2. Bad 

 weather prohibited dredging, so the course was laid for 

 Reikiavik, but heavy S.W. winds and sea made the pro- 

 gress very slow. July 22, Iceland was made in the 

 morning, but in the afternoon the weather got so wild and 

 thick that shelter was sought at the Westman Islands, a 

 group of small islands off the south coast of Iceland. 

 Here a stay of three days was made ; during one of them 

 there was a heavy gale, in which steam was kept up. The 

 visit here proved very interesting. The whole of the 

 islands are volcanic ; a large old crater, with perpendicu- 

 lar walls 400 to 500 feet high, is visible ; one side is 

 standing, the other has been washed away by the sea. 

 Two miles off is a more recent cone, 770 feet above sea- 

 level, in full preservation, with a hollow 50 feet deep on 

 top. The base of the cone is lava ; the cone itself, whose 

 outline is beautifully geometrical, is composed of loose 

 stones. The sea-birds are very numerous, living in the 

 countless hollows in the cliffs, where they were hatching 

 at the time of the visit. Whales, large and small, were 

 about the ship. 



Westmaney was left July 26, and Reikiavik reached 

 that evening. On the south coast of Iceland the current 

 was very strong to the eastward, and from Cape Skagi to 

 Reikiavik its violence was fearful. 



The Icelanders reported that they have very seldom 

 had so bad a summer as this one — perpetual storm and 

 rain. This has not been favourable to the expedition 

 except as regards meteorology. In this branch hourly 

 observations have been regularly taken when at sea. 



The expedition was to stay at Reikiavik five or six 

 days for coaling and for magnetic base observations. 

 Hardly any magnetic observations have been obtained at 

 sea, the weather having been so boisterous. It was 

 intended to give up making the circuit of Iceland (the ice 

 on the north side went away in June), and to take up a 

 line south of Iceland, and then straight across to Norway, 

 about to Namsos. The scientific staff is very well con- 

 tented with the results gained, in spite of the bad 

 weather. 



{From another Correspondefit.) 



The Atlantic Expedition, under the leadership of Prof. 

 Mohn and Prof. Sars, sent by the Norwegian government 

 for the exploration of the North Atlantic and for making 

 a toi(r round Iceland, give some intelligence as to their 

 proceedings in a letter from Thorshavn (Faroe Islands), 

 dated July 1 1 and 14, printed in the Christiania newspaper, 

 Morgenbladet, of Aug. 2. This letter, the substance of 

 which we reproduce, gives information on the cruise of 

 the expedition in open sea, after its having left Christian- 

 sund. On June 27 the steamer left Christiansund and went 

 westward. In the evening soundings were taken at a 

 depth of 87 fathoms, and the temperature of the water 

 proved to be as high as 7° C, between 10 fathoms and 

 the bottom. The following day, the island Storeggen was 

 reached ; the temperature of the water was here y\° C, at 

 a depth of 230 fathoms, and the animal life, belonging all 

 to the " warm region," was of the highest interest. On 

 the 29th, the steamer going further westward, the depth 

 still increased and soon reached 418 fathoms, where the 

 thermometer showed an icy-cold sheet of water, sharply 

 divided from the upper warmer sheet, the temperature at 

 300 fathoms being + 6°, and - 1° at the depth of 418 

 fathoms. On the 30th the weather was very fine, and the 

 trawl-net was used, an English fishing-net, which brought 

 some remarkable forms {e.g. large UmbellifercB) from the 

 depths of the cold sheet of water. On July i the ther- 

 mometer showed — 1° C. at the depth of 570 fathoms. 

 In the afternoon the weather changed, the wind began to 

 blow very strongly from S.S.E., the barometer fell, and the 

 steamer took a S.E. direction. On July 2 the wind reached 

 the strength of a storm, the waves had a height of 18 feet, 

 which height diminished afterwards to 12 and 10 feet. The 

 bad weather continued until July 4, and it was not till 



the 5 th that the steamer could return to her former route, 

 and the soundings and the fishing could be continued. On 

 the 5th soundings were taken at a depth of 1,050 fathoms, 

 temperature at the bottom — 1° C. The dredging 

 apparatus was sent to this depth, and dragged for six 

 hours : it brought up a very interesting collection, which 

 proved that even at this depth, and in such cold water, 

 animal life is very variable at different parts of the 

 bottom. But the zoological labours were soon interrupted 

 anew by a gale coming from the south ; the height of the 

 waves was measured and found to be 25 feet, and the 

 steamer received some damage, which forced the expedi- 

 tion to go to the Faroe Islands. On the 8th the expedition 

 landed at Thorshavn, and it was not till July 14 that, 

 necessary repairs being made, the steamer could go 

 further. These circumstances, and the reports of much 

 ice round Iceland made it very probable that the expe- 

 dition will not make, this year, the proposed tour round 

 that island. 



The scientific results of the expedition — says the writer 

 of the letter — are already considerable. The depths of 

 the sea, and the distribution of temperature with the 

 depth are certainly such as might be supposed, but the 

 animal life exhibits a much greater variety of forms than 

 could ever have been expected, so that the explorations of 

 the summer will give a very general idea as to the organic 

 life of this latitude. 



MR. O. C. STONE'S EXPEDITION TO NEW 

 GUINEA 



A GOOD deal of speculation has been rife as to the 

 -^"^ above expedition of Mr. Stone (Cf. Ibis, 1876, p. 

 363) into south-eastern New Guinea, as the collections 

 sent by the Italian traveller, D'Albertis, had by no means 

 answered the expectations of naturalists as regards novel- 

 ties, and as Mr. Stone was known to have engaged the 

 services of two good ^rcparaieurs in the persons of 

 Messrs. Petterd and Broadbent, it was confidently ex- 

 pected that a great deal that was new to science would 

 be brought to light. After a cursory examination of the 

 birds obtained during the expedition, it becomes quite 

 evident that the neighbourhood of Port Moresby is a very 

 unproductive one as regards ornithology, when compared 

 with the rich fields in the north-western part of New 

 Guinea, which have lately yielded as many as fifty-two 

 undescribed species of birds to the Italian traveller. Dr. 

 Beccari. At the same time Mr. Stone's collection has 

 taught us some very interesting facts by proving that the 

 Papuan element in the avifauna of south-eastern New 

 Guinea, consists rather cf Aru forms than of Salwatti or 

 Dorey species. Many birds are, as might be expected, j 

 specifically the same as those of Cape York, but the large f 

 number of Aru birds is very striking. I am preparing a 

 full account of the collection for publication, but mean- 

 while I send a notice of the expedition for the readers 

 of this journal, and add short details of one or two species 

 which appear to be new to science. 



Mr. Stone started from Somerset, Australia, on October 

 21, 1875, and after remaining a few days at Yule Island, 

 where Signor d'Albertis was then collecting, he reached 

 Port Moresby, New Guinea, about sixty miles further to 

 the south-east, on the 29th of the same month. Although 

 his principal object in visiting the island was to gain 

 ethnological and geographical information, he took 

 with him, as mentioned above, two taxidermists. Anua- 

 pata, where he erected his tent, is situated upon the 

 shores of Moresby harbour, in long. 147° 7' E., and lat. 

 9^ 28' S., and from here several preliminary excursions 

 were made. At first the natives showed some fear, but 

 on seeing that the object of the visitors was peaceable, 

 they soon gained confidence, and the younger members 

 of the community frequently assisted in carrying back 

 the game shot. During the months of December and 



