NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE. 



121 



CHAPTER IV. 



Tenerife to St. Thomas— St. Thomas— St. Thomas to Bermuda— The Brachiopoila— Gulf Weed Fauna— Description of 

 Bermuda— Bermuda to Halifax -The Gulf Stream— Halifax to Bermuda— The Tunicate, 



Tenekife to St. Thomas Island, West Indies. 



The Challenger left Santa Cruz, Tenerife, on the evening of the 14th February. The 

 weather was bright and pleasant, with a light breeze from the northeast. A south- 

 westerly course was pursued for a few days, until well within the northern limit of the 

 trade wind, after which the route followed was, as nearly as practicable, in a straight line 



Fio. 48.— Peak of Tenerife from the N.W., JO miles. 



to Sombrero Island, the outlying sentinel at the northeast extremity of the Lesser 

 Antilles. On the 14th March the island of St. Martin was sighted, and the last sound- 

 ing on the Tenerife-Sombrei o section obtained, after which a course was shaped to pass 

 between Sombrero and Dog Island, and on the 15th three soundings and three dredgings 

 were obtained in from 450 to 590 fathoms southwest of Sombrero. On the 16th, at 

 1.30 p.m., the ship arrived at St. Thomas Island, and anchored in the Gregerie Channel, 

 so as to enjoy the full benefit of the sea breeze during the stay in the port. 



On this section twenty-four soundings, fifteen dredgings, two trawlings and thirteen 



(.VABH. CHALL. EXP. — VOL. I. — 1884.) 16 



