14 THE DEEPEST SOUNDINGS. 



The same authority further states that "Near the 

 entrance to the Sea of Ochotsk the United States ship 

 Tuscarora found depths of over 4600 fathoms " (== 

 27,600 feet, this was off the north coast of Japan) 

 and for so far this seems to be the deepest point a 

 line has ever sounded, assuming that it is correctly 

 recorded, and is as near as possible 5^ statute miles. 



And now arises a question, concerning which scien- 

 tific men are still divided in opinion, namely Do 

 living creatures exist at these enormous depths? 



Some think that it would be impossible for life to 

 exist under such conditions, in consequence of the 

 tremendous pressure of the water at such great depths. 

 The Scientific Report of the Voyage of H.M.S. 

 Challenger prepared under the superintendence of 

 Sir C. Wyville Thomson, F.R.S., Regius Professor of 

 Natural History at the University of Edinburgh, 

 however, speaks with no uncertain sound on this point, 

 and says 



"The most prominent and remarkable biological result of 

 the recent investigations, is the final establishment of the 

 fact, that the distribution of living beings has no depth limit, 

 but that animals of all invertebrate classes, and probably 

 fishes also, exist on the whole floor of the ocean." * 



The Encyclopedia Britannica, another highly scientific 

 authority, however, while stating the results obtained 

 by the Challenger Expedition, seems to decline to commit 

 itself to any decided opinion on this point, and says- 



Himalayan peaks above sea-level that of Kinchinjanga, 28,156 feet, 

 seen from Darjeeling at a distance of 45 miles, is an instance in point; 

 and this as we know is exceeded by not far short of 1000 feet, by Mount 

 Everest, at present set down at 29,002 feet; and it may be there are 

 other peaks in Nepaul of still greater height. 



* See page 33 of Introduction to the Scientific Report, Vol i., 1880. 



