NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE. 237 



CHAPTER VII. 



Bahia to the Tristan da Cunha Group— Ipnops — Account of Tristan Island and the Settlement — Inaccessible and 

 Nightingale Islands — Tristan Group to the Cape — The Cephalopoda — The Holothurioidea — The Cape — Peripatus 

 —The Cetacea — The Chitons. 



Bahia to the Tristan da Cunha Group. 



On the 25th September, at 4 p.m., the Challenger left Bahia for the Tristan da Cunha 

 group of islands, and proceeded to the southward until the 30th, without sounding or 

 dredging, as it was desirable to get into cool weather at once to avoid any risk of yellow 

 fever spreading amongst the ship's company. 



The S.E. trade wind continued to the 22nd parallel; from thence to the 34th parallel 

 the wind had an easterly tendency, varying from N.E. by N. to S.E. by E. On the 9th 

 October, in lat 34° S., long. 24° W., after a gale from the eastward, the wind shifted round 

 by north to west, and continued between south and west till Tristan da Cunha was reached. 

 North of the 30th parallel the weather was fine, afterwards it was cloudy, with passing 

 rain squalls. The sea was moderate throughout. The first albatross was seen on the 2nd 

 October, in lat. 25° S., long. 34° W., but no Cape Pigeons until the 7th, in lat. 29° S., 

 long. 26° W. 



As no soundings were taken until the 20th parallel was reached, the section was drawn 

 from Abrolhos Island on the American coast to Tristan da Cunha. On this section six 

 soundings, six serial temperature soundings, two dredgings, and three trawlings were 

 obtained. The dredge rope parted on the 30th September, at Station 129, before the 

 dredge was off the bottom; and when trawling on the 3rd October, at Station 130, 

 great difficulty was found in heaving in the trawl rope, only a few fathoms being gained 

 at a time. After a long struggle the trawl was lifted off the bottom, but the strain on 

 the accumulators, which were elongated to the full length of the safety pendant, 

 indicated that something weighty was in the net. By careful manipulation, however, 

 the trawl was brought to the surface, the beam and part of the net being visible from 

 the deck, but when on the point of hooking the burton to hoist it on board, the iron 

 swivel, between the rope and the span from the beam, parted, and the trawl with its 

 contents sank to the bottom. This was a great mortification, as intense curiosity had 

 been excited to learn the cause of the strain on the rope. 



The surface temperature ranged from 78° at Bahia to 52°'S near lat. 36° 7' S., long. 

 14° 27' W., at 8 a.m. on the 13th October, and thereafter rising to 53 D, 5 at Tristan da 

 Cunha. 



The temperature of the water at the bottom ranged from 34°'2 to 36° - ; but the 



