VI 



The West Indies 



IN March, 193^, Lieutenant- Commander Alim Jones relieved 

 Wyatt in command of Challenger and Wyatt went to the 

 surveying ship Flinders and Deane accompanied him. Jones, 

 a Welshman, was well known in surveying circles for his energy 

 and great output of work, and there was certainly plenty to be 

 done in the next two years in the West Indies. 



The Labrador surveys being finished, the whole of the 193^ 

 season was to be spent in the West Indies. The anchorages in 

 the Grenadines were not yet completed, so once again the ship 

 anchored off Hillsborough, Carriacou, on 2 6th April, the remain- 

 der of the month being spent in getting the survey in hand and in 

 establishing the necessary camps. There was still some sounding 

 and topography to be completed at Carriacou, and a detached 

 party was established on Tobago Cays to commence the surveys 

 there. During June, both boats were working from the camp on 

 Tobago Cays while the ship carried on steadily with the sounding 

 in the deeper water. 



Some of the hill marks had been left the previous year, and 

 once these had been re-flagged they were used as sounding marks. 

 However, considerable trouble was found in making the fixes 'go' 

 — fixes on different sets of marks gave differing positions. It was 

 after some searching and puzzling that the cause of this trouble 

 was found and it was due to the good relations which had been 

 established with the people of Hillsborough. In the ship's absence 

 a hill fire had swept towards one of Challenger'' s marks, which 

 the villagers had rescued in time and replaced after the fire had 

 passed by. It was only unfortunate that they had not replaced the 

 mark exactly. 



To build up the triangulation a theodolite is used. In practice, 

 theodolite work is far from simple; the instrument must be 

 exactly levelled and a very light touch is necessary, though this 



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