35 



summer-like atmosphere ; 1500 fathoms was again found, and the cup brought up the usual grey 

 impalpable mud (oaze). The towing-net collected a beautiful float of the Nautilus, having 13 

 chambers, and a fragmentary valve of a delicate fluted Pecten. 



The temperatures were precisely the same as in the former sounding, except that the surface was 

 05, and at 100 fathoms the thermometer showed 50 ; a difference of 15 in only 100 fathoms 

 another proof of the Gulf Stream being merely superficial. 



At day-dawn this morning, to the great surprise of every one, we saw an old Labrador Mend a 

 huge iceberg having a warm bath in a temperature of 62, double that of its own. Although it 

 was still 150 feet high, and nearly 400 immersed, it was quickly and perceptibly undermining, 

 decomposing, splitting with loud reports, and floating away in large portions with the easterly 

 current. 



It curiously happened that this immense iceberg stood in the very spot 30 miles south of the edge 

 of the Grand Bank where not only the deepest waters of the Atlantic were supposed to be, but 

 where we intended to get a sounding to ascertain if this were the fact : the result showed it was 

 not so. 



Sail was furled, steam got up, and the Gannet ranged up as near as was prudent under the lee of 

 our chilly friend ; and in the midst of a thunder storm, with Brooke's rod and weights, obtained at 

 a depth of 1400 fathoms the same "Oaze," disproving the idea of the deepest water being here. 

 This depth appears to be not only the usual one, but also the general slope of the Banks, as well as 

 the universal character of their formation. 



By the temperatures here obtained, the same stratum of cold arctic water was passing under the 

 warmer waters of the Gulf Stream. The rod brought up a small portion of feldtspar with glittering 

 particles of mica, evidently deposited there by icebergs from Davis Strait, and that very recently. 



The ship now sailed east for the spot where Lieut. Sainthill, in lat. 42 37' N. and long. 41 45' 

 W., obtained, in 1832, 100 fathoms on sharp rocky bottom, bringing up on the arming of the lead 

 " fine bluish ashes ; " and he was under the impression that he was over a submarine volcano in a 

 state of eruption. At 2 P.M., on the 12th of July, this position was reached, and with a heavy 

 weight 4300 fathoms of line ran out, and no bottom ! 



It was somewhat remarkable that about here, within a radius of some few miles, many indications 

 of shoal water had been from time to time seen and reported, one having as little as 35 fathoms on 

 it. To one of these, called the " Milne Bank," with only 80 fathoms on it, we were now steering. 

 It had been found by H.M.S. Nile, in 1864, on her homeward-bound voyage ; and, under most 

 favourable circumstances, soundings of 80, 90, and 100 fathoms, " fine sand and oaze " brought up. 



Also, about this vicinity, the currents are found very strong, and a little further east very 

 variable in direction ; sometimes running with a velocity of 2, 3, and even 4 miles an hour to 

 the eastward, and in some places forming a complete "race." If neither banks nor shoal-water 

 exist here, it is not easy to account for this additional effort of the Gulf Stream ; unless, indeed, 

 it is the mass of water brought from the South Atlantic by the south-east trades, adding to 

 its volume and to its velocity. 



Lat. 43 30' N. ; long. 38 50' W. At 4 P.M., on the 15th of July, we were on the 80 fathoms ! 

 The rod and weight of 230 Ibs. let go, and as each 100 fathoms ran off the reel it caused some 

 excitement, as at each fathom it was hoped the bank would be struck. 2280 fathoms, 13,680 

 feet, ran out. There was no bank there. The rod brought up " oaze " abounding in animal, 

 vegetable, and mineral remains ! 



E'2 



