NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE, 



U l 



many deep-sea forms. A very large fragment of a huge new Eexactinellid Sponge was 



brought up from 630 fathoms. This will be described by Professor Sehulze under the 

 name of Poliopugon gigas; it measured about 2 feet by 3 feet indies. Many of t he deep- 

 sea forms obtained here were identical with those found in the Atlantic. The deposit at 

 2900 fathoms was a red day, which showed only a very slight trace of effervescence with 

 weak acid, and did not contain more than one per cent, of carbonate of lime. The 

 mineral particles were very small, the bulk of them being less than - 05 mm. in diameter, 

 and consisted of felspar, magnetite, and hornblende ; there were, however, some large 

 fragments of pumice, while the great bulk of the deposit was composed of very minute 

 fragments of pumice. 



TONGATABU. 



Euaigee Island is higher than the other islets, and can be seen farther than Tongatabu 

 itself. A narrow coral reef fringes its shore, and off its southeast end is a small 

 detached reef, about half a mile from the island. From the east point of Tongatabu along 

 the coast to the southward, the fringing coral reef does not extend above a few yards 

 from the shore ; but from the east point to the westward it gradually extends until it 

 reaches a distance of about a quarter of a mile from the land. From the point opposite 

 Onevah Islet to Makkaha Island, the coral patches on the south side of the channel into 

 Tongatabu anchorage are much broken up and ill-defined, whilst the ^eef on the north 

 side of the channel has a sharp edge with no outlying knobs. It is therefore preferable 

 to sail near to this side. The quarter fathom rock in the channel between Makkaha 

 and Monuafai Islands is not exactly in the centre of the channel, the passage on its 

 western side being wider than that on the eastern. On a dull day this rock cannot be 

 readily distinguished ; but the edge of the reef extending from Makkaha, Island 

 is well-defined, and by keeping close towards it, the rock will be avoided. The 

 church on the hill at Nukalofa is a most conspicuous object. At noon the ship anchored 

 off it, with Faffao Island N. 31° E., the right extremity of Pangimodu, in line with 

 the left extremity of Onevah N. 81° E., King's House S. 16° ^Y., in 13 fathoms. 



Three whaling vessels were at Tongatabu when the ship arrived, and from them it 

 was ascertained that Raoul or Sunday Island of the Kermadec group, had been abandoned, 

 in consequence of a sudden eruption of the volcano, by an American family who had settled 

 there. The island was certainly quite quiet when the Challenger passed, not the slightest 

 sign of smoke issuing from any part, but the whalers said that this state of things was ex- 

 ceptional, and they reported also that a rock or shoal rose, and again sunk, in its west bay. 



The whaling season at the Friendly Islands commences in the middle of June, and 

 continues to the end of October; during this time the Humpbacked Whale (Megaptera 

 lalandi) frequents the neighbourhood of these islands for breeding purposes, and is 

 then easily captured. Several whales were passed just outside the reefs. A small 



