EDITOKIAL NOTES. 



The Hydrographic Part of the Narrative of the Cruise of H.M.S. Challenger 

 would have been written by Captain Sir George S. Nares, K.C.B., had he 

 remained in command of the ship during the whole of the voyage. 



When the Expedition reached Hong Kong in December 1874, Captain 

 Nares was recalled to take command of the last British Arctic Expedition, 

 and he then placed his Journals in the hands of his successor in the Challenger, 

 — the late Captain Frank Tourle Thomson. 



Captain Thomson was, however, of opinion that the description of the 

 Hydrographic Work of the Expedition should be undertaken by an officer who 

 had been with the Challenger from the beginning, and consequently Captain 

 Nares' Journals were, with the concurrence of the late Sir C. Wyville Thomson, 

 handed over to Staff-Commander T. H. Tizard, the Senior Surveying Officer 

 of the Expedition. 



On the return of the Expedition to England, Staff-Commander T. H. 

 Tizard was, on the recommendation of the Hydrographer to the Admiralty, 1 

 temporarily employed in the Hydrographic Office, for the purpose of preparing 

 for publication the Charts, Diagrams, and Hydrographic Notes for the 

 Narrative of the Cruise, and Commander J. L. P. Maclear and Lieutenant 

 A. C. B. Bromley were also employed for a short time in preparing for 

 publication the Magnetical Observations. The Journals of Captain G. S. 

 Nares were freely used by the Challenger Officers, and they had throughout 

 the assistance of the permanent Officers of the Hydrographic Department of 

 the Admiralty. This work was commenced in 1876 and completed in 1879, 



1 Then Captain F. J. Evans, R.N., C.B., in succession (in 1874) to Bear-Admiral G. H. Richards, C.B., under whose 

 auspices the Expedition was originally fitted out. 



