

in the Twenty Years before 1895 51 



soundings, generally marked with a D to indicate doubt. In 

 many places in mid-ocean shoals were indicated on which 

 actual soundings under 100 fathoms had been obtained. Now, 

 although at that time the art of deep sounding was not very 

 widely distributed among mariners, every seaman could be 

 trusted to know if he struck bottom in 40 or 50 fathoms, and 

 it seemed to me that, if properly looked for, many of these 

 shoals would be found to be perfectly genuine. But ships 

 that were sent to look for them, not being fitted for rapid 

 deep-sea sounding, generally returned satisfied of their absence 

 because a sounding of 1500 or 2000 fathoms had been found 

 within 10 or 12 miles of the position. But the "Challenger" 

 and "Tuscarora" showed by abundant evidence that in the 

 of oceanic islands, as for instance Bermuda, a depth of 

 sooo fathoms may be found within 5 miles of the shore, and 

 that such islands have often almost precipitous escarpments. 

 r hen I had the good fortune to accompany Mr Robert Kaye 

 rray in the "Dacia" to survey the cable route between Cadiz 

 and the Canaries, we passed over ground where one such 

 shoal was known, and where there might be more. By 

 following every indication of shallowing, and by rapid work, 

 vere able to discover three new shoals rising to near the 

 ice out of water 2000 fathoms and over, each one of which 

 would have been overlooked by a ship sent to look for it as 

 above. These discoveries in the "Dacia" gave body to the 

 isolated observations of shoal water in the open ocean, 

 and instead of their being removed from new editions of the 

 ts, their verification was undertaken seriously. Our 

 Mttrd with win- -"undin^-^ar, went on their 

 k, and, especially in the Pacific, old ones were identified 

 new ones were found, and all were submitted to a more 

 1 study, to the great advantage of the science 

 eanography. 



It i> rii^ht here to point out th.it t li for o< 



Is on board the "Dacia ot undertaken on pun 1\ 



tln-ir existence or non-existence had a 

 i.il import. nice. The sho.d whi< h u.i^ known to 

 when the "D.ui.i" began her short three weeks' cr 



4-2 



