254 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
The high land of the above group was sighted on the 3d of September 
and we passed the Scott Islands the following evening. 
Entering the straits of Fuca at midnight of September 5, we 
reached Port Townsend at 12:20 p.m. the following day, where we 
found a large mail awaiting our arrival. Many improvements were 
observed in and about the city; blocks of buildings had been erected 
during the year; electric and steam-motor street railways were in 
operation; and 20 miles of the Port Townsend and Southern Railroad 
was officially opened on the 12th. Repairs on the machinery were com- 
pleted on the 15th and we left the following morning for Departure 
Bay for coal. A dense fog and smoke made navigation very difficult, 
and, after feeling our way through Rosario Straits, we anchored at the 
Sucie Islands for the night, finally reaching our destination at 2:25 
p.m. the following day. Taking on board 185 tons of coal, we returned 
to Port Townsend, reaching that port at 1:50 p. m. on the 20th. 
Getting under way again at 3 p. m., we passed Race light at 8 p. m. 
and made Cape Flattery light at 1 a. m., the fog having lifted. Two 
hauls of the trawl were made during the 21st in 516 and 831 fathoms 
off the Washington coast; and, steaming to the southward during the 
night, three hauls were made next day off the coast of Oregon in 759, 
786, and 345 fathoms. Standing to southward during the night, through 
dense fog and smoke, we crossed Heceta Bank, made Cape Orford at 1 
p. m. on the 23d, passing Fox Rock an hour later. Nothing more was 
seen until we reached Cape Mendocino the next morning. ‘The weather 
had somewhat improved and objects could be seen from 1 to 2 miles. 
Commencing at the cape we defined the 200-fathom line as far south 
as Point Arena and made a series of dredgings from 455 fathoms to 
the coast. The bank was very steep near Cape Mendocino, but gradu- 
ally extended until, off Point Arena, the 200-fathom line was 10 miles 
from shore. There are no fishing-banks proper in that region, but the 
usual coast fishes will be found in spots along the shore. The beam 
trawl may be used in the region about Point Arena, but stony spots 
oceur at intervals which would be liable to damage the nets. The 
bottom seems smoother to the southward toward Point Reyes, and the 
ground will doubtless be fished with nets of some description as the 
demand for flatfish increases in the San Francisco market. 
Having completed our work, we started for port at 4 p. m., Septem- 
ber 25, arriving in San Francisco at 8 o’clock on the morning of the 26th. 
NATURAL HISTORY OBSERVATIONS. 
The fauna of Bristol Bay, other parts of Bering Sea, and the Pacific 
Ocean, developed by the use of the trawl and dredge during the season, 
will be reported upon by Prof. C. H. Gilbert, but it may not be out of 
place to add here a few general remarks upon this subject. A marked 
feature of the dredging on Slime Bank was the great numbers of me- 
dusz or jellyfishes brought up in every haul of the net, The species 
