- No 2. SPITSBERGEN WATERS. 



45 



owing to the curve of the latter, caused by its weight. The directions of 

 the movements obtained by the two observations also agree fairly well. 

 According to our curves Figs. 58 & 59, the velocity and direction of the 

 drift at 6.50 p. m. should have been about 17.5 cm. per second and to- 

 wards S33W, while the sounding-line gave S39W as an average be- 

 tween 6.40 and 8.45 p. m. 



On August i8th, at 4.30 p. m., a sounding was made and gave 510 

 metres. The sounding-line was then hanging vertically, and remained so 

 till it was hauled up. Some minutes later an observation was made with 

 a current-meter at 450 metres, and gave no movement of the water, thus 

 indicating that there was no drift of the ship, if it may be assumed that 

 the water at 450 metres had no movement. In this case the observations 

 with the sounding-line and the lead on the bottom, and with the current- 

 meter at 450 metres, thus agree perfectly. An observation taken simul- 

 taneously at 20 metres gave a considerable movement at that depth. 



On August 1 9th, at 1.15 a. m., a sounding gave 502 metres, and the 

 sounding-line remained vertical till it was hauled up. A few minutes later 

 an observation with the current-meter at 450 metres gave a relative move- 

 ment of the water of only 1.5 cm. per second, which consequently meant 

 a very slow surface drift, if the water at 450 metres can be assumed to 

 have had no movement. This drift of 1.5 cm. per second is so slow that 

 it could not be expected to be observed by the sounding-line; and in this 

 case the observations with both methods consequently also agree. 



At other times the sounding-line showed a great deflection which indi- 

 cated a rapid surface-drift, and this was then found to agree with the 

 apparent surface-drift given by the observations with the current-meter in 

 the deep water-strata. On August i8th, at 8.30 p. m., a sounding gave 

 520 metres, and it is noted in the journal that the sounding-line was much 

 deflected towards NE, indicating a rapid surface-drift towards SW. Simul- 

 taneously an observation with the current-meter at 450 metres gave a 

 surface-drift with a velocity of 13.7 cm. per second towards S 70 W (magn.), 

 provided that the water at 450 metres had no movement. The disagree- 

 ment between the directions of the two observations might to some extent 

 be explained by the fact that the deflection of the sounding-line was not 

 measured accurately, but was only given according to me general impres- 

 sion; it is not therefore altogether improbable that it may have been a 

 point or two wrong. 



On August igth, at i.oo p. m., a sounding gave 436 metres, and the 

 sounding-line was deflected towards E by N. Ten minutes later, an observa- 

 tion with the current-meter at 400 metres, gave a surface-drift of 17 cm. 



