380 POPULAR LECTURES AND ADDRESSES. 



and night at full speed in depths sometimes as 

 great as 120 fathoms. No break, not explicable 

 by a kink in the wire, has hitherto taken place in 

 any ship provided with the sounding machine. 

 That it will bear much rough usage is well 

 illustrated by one incident which happened in a 

 cast taken from the Devonia, running at 13 

 knots. The sinker in falling from the wheel into the 

 water accidentally fell between the rudder chain 

 and the ship, and 50 fathoms or so had gone out 

 before it was noticed that the wire was running 

 down vertically from the wheel instead of nearly 

 horizontally as it ought to have been by that time. 

 The handles were immediately applied to the 

 sounding wheel, and it was turned round to haul in 

 without reducing the speed of the ship. Though 

 the wire was bent nearly at right angles round the 

 chain until it was nearly all in, it was all got safely 

 on board, as was also the cod-line with attached 

 depth gauge, and the sinker at the end of it. 



When soundings are being taken every hour or 

 more frequently (as in the case of a ship feeling her 

 way up Channel from the 100 fathom line when the 

 position is not known with sufficient certainty by 

 sights and chronometers) the sounding wheel should 

 be kept in position, with depth gauge, and sinker 

 all placed ready for use. 1 With such arrange- 



1 The following instruction is printed on an enamel plate on the 

 box containing the machine. Its observance is of the greatest 

 importance to prevent ships from ever getting into positions where 



