NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE. 411 



precision, as the thermometers when brought to the surface showed, with one exception, 

 the same temperature on the maximum side as on immersion, and on the minimum side 

 the same as at 80 fathoms. The bottom thermometer gave a result of 32°, which is 

 probably the bottom temperature, being slightly colder than the results above that depth. 

 Whether this be so or not, it is at any rate certain that the bottom temperature was not 

 below 32°. At 4 p.m., after heaving in the trawl, sail was made. The day was fine, but 

 cloudy, the wind gradually falling until at 6 p.m. it was quite calm, the barometer 

 steady at 30"045 inches, the mean temperature of air 36 c, 9, of sea surface 37°"5, the sea 

 smooth ; the position of the ship at noon, lat. 53° 55' S., long. 108° 35' E. No ice of any 

 description was seen during the day. At 11.45 p.m. a brilliant aurora was observed 

 stretching in four concentric arcs from E.S.E. to W.S.W. between the zenith and an 

 altitude of 30°. 



On the 4th a southeasterly breeze sprang up, and shifted gradually to the northeast and 

 north, freshening towards midnight. The weather was fine in the morning and forenoon, 

 but cloudy in the afternoon, and misty and foggy in the evening. The barometer steady 

 at 30"053 inches, but inclined to fall ; mean temperature of the air 38°"6, and of the surface 

 water 38°'9. At noon an iceberg was seen to the northward, and it was passed at 

 6 p.m. This proved to be the last berg seen on the voyage, and it was evidently fast 

 breaking up, being a round-backed piece of ice, in shape somewhat like a capsized 

 vessel, and not much larger. 



On the 5th and 6th March a steady northerly breeze was experienced, mean force 5, 

 with a smooth sea, and a southwesterly swell, the barometer fairly steady, the tempera- 

 ture both of air and sea increasing. 



On the 7th a sounding, trawling, and temperatures were again obtained, the 

 depth being 1800 fathoms, Station 158 (see Sheet 24). It was found that the nature 

 of the bottom had changed from Diatom ooze to Globigerina ooze. The serial temperature 

 sounding showed that, at this position, lat. 50° 1' S., long. 123° 4' E., the temperature of 

 the sea decreased gradually from the surface to the bottom, or from 45° to 33°"5, as is 

 generally the case (see Diagram 10). The ship had therefore now got to the northward 

 of the peculiar condition as regards temperature of the sea in the Antarctic basin. The 

 weather during the day was fine, but cloudy, and occasionally misty. The wind still 

 steady in direction (N. true), but increasing in force towards midnight ; the barometer 

 falling somewhat, the mean temperature of the air 47°'4, of the sea surface 45°"3. 



On the 8th the northerly wind still continued, force 6, with fine weather and smooth 

 water, barometer fairly steady at 29 "831 inches. Mean temperature of the air 50° "2, of sea 

 surface 48°'8. The velocity of the wind by the anemometer was 23 miles per hour. At 

 midnight the patent log when hauled in was found entangled in a large piece of kelp 

 covered with barnacles. As the vessel was then in the parallel of Kerguelen, and 

 there is no kelp at Heard Island, it is probable that this weed may have drifted from 



