264 The Cruise of the " Princesse Alice" 



the water at the bottom being 3 C. ; and the ship arrived at 

 Ponta Delgada, in the island of St Michael's, on the afternoon 

 of July 31. In the 29 years which have elapsed since the 

 "Challenger" cast anchor in the same place many changes 

 have occurred. The breakwater, which was then only begun, 

 has been finished, and a large portion of it has again been 

 demolished by a storm. The orange trade has disappeared, 

 and its place has been taken by that in pineapples. The 

 countless glasshouses in which the pines are grown give the 

 country quite a new appearance. Otherwise things are much 

 the same. Life in the islands has the merit of tranquillity. 

 The population is small in relation to the area and fertility of 

 the soil, so that, while perhaps no one is very rich, none are 

 very poor, and all have enough to eat. 



On leaving Ponta Delgada the yacht proceeded to the 

 channel which separates the islands of Terceira and St Michael's. 

 The only existing deep sounding in this district was one of 

 1900 fathoms made many years ago by the Prince in the 

 " Hirondelle." A few miles from this spot a sounding was now- 

 made; and a depth of 1645 fathoms was found, which con- 

 firmed the existence of deep water in this locality. A remark- 

 able feature of this sounding, besides the depth, was the 

 comparatively high temperature of the bottom water. The 

 thermometer which was sent down on the sounding-line showed 

 a temperature of 5 C. In the open water of the North Atlantic 

 the temperature at this depth would not be higher than 3 C. 

 It was evident that we had here sounded in an enclosed basin, 

 shut off from the general waters of the surrounding ocean by 

 a "lip," situated at such a depth below the surface that the 

 minimum temperature of the water which can gain access to 

 it from the outside is 5 C. It need hardly be pointed out that 

 in the latitude of the Azores such a temperature cannot be 

 obtained from the surface. This result was confirmed by a 

 number of subsequent soundings and temperature deter- 

 minations. A sounding about 40 miles north of this position 

 in 1650 fathoms gave a bottom temperature 6f 3-2 C., and one 

 about 30 miles south of it in 1285 fathoms gave a bottom 

 temperature of 3-5 C., so that the existence of the enclosed 



