CHAPTER XXIII. 



1871-1872: ^T. 64-65. 



failing 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. 1 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, lilliputian in size, to be sure, but 

 very various in character. Agassiz was no 



