ON DEEP-SEA SOUNDING. 367 



be made. The wire, with 34 Ibs. sinker, would take 

 not more than 30 minutes to run out ; but, if for a 

 tour deforce you wished to do it quicker than that, 

 I should use a much greater weight, say 150 Ibs., 

 with detaching trigger. Supposing, however, the 

 34 Ibs. sinker to be used, with the multiplying 

 speed on the pulleys, and twelve or fourteen men 

 hauling on the endless rope, it might be hauled 

 from a depth of two miles in about 15 minutes. 

 Thus the whole process, with the recovery of the 

 sinker, would be performed in 45 minutes. The 

 process without recovery of the 150 Ibs. sinker may 

 be made with only about twenty minutes' detention, 

 when the object is to make a sounding with the 

 least possible detention, and, therefore, the ship is 

 allowed to go on her course at fair speed during the 

 time of hauling in the line, with tube and specimen 

 of bottom. A sounding of 1,000 or 1,500 fathoms 

 with recovery of the 34 Ibs. sinker, may be executed 

 with only the detention of stopping the ship, keep- 

 ing her stopped for a quarter of an hour or twenty 

 minutes while the lead is going down, and then 

 going a-head full speed as soon as it has struck 

 the bottom. 



