x INTRODUCTION. 
9, A line was run from that point directly for the mouth of 
the Mississippi, a distance somewhat less than 200 miles. 
The weather during the greater part of our trip from the 
Tortugas to New Orleans was very bad, as is usually the case 
during March in the Gulf of Mexico. We could do but little 
beyond ascertaining, in the most general way, the faunal char- 
acteristics of the lines run between Key West and New Orleans. 
At New Orleans Mr. Garman and I left the “ Blake,” an event 
which must have been a relief to the officers, more particularly 
to the executive officer, Lieutenant Ackley, who was once more 
free to put the ship in an orderly condition. The work of 
dredging is not conducive to cleanliness, and during the whole 
time I was on board no routine was ever allowed to interfere 
with our work, Lieutenant Ackley himself always being the first 
to see that everything was in readiness for our dredging opera- 
tions at all times. That the interest shown in the work by the 
other officers of the “Blake,” Messrs. Sharrer, Jacoby, Moore, 
Sigsbee, and Dr. Nourse, did not flag after my departure is 
amply demonstrated by the collections made off Havana, con- 
taining as they do some of the most valuable specimens of the 
expedition, all in an excellent state of preservation. The 
« Blake" subsequently returned to Key West to continue her 
regular work of sounding between the Tortugas, the coast of 
Cuba, and the Yucatan Bank. On the way to Key West, a few 
casts were made by Lieut.-Commander Sigsbee on the Florida 
Bank, in Lat. 26° 31’, Lon. 89° 3’, in a depth of 119 fathoms, 
at a point where a good notion of the fauna of the Florida Bank 
could be obtained. 
As connected with the work of oceanic exploration carried 
on under the auspices of the U. S. Coast Survey, I may also 
mention a visit to the Tortugas during 1881. I left Key West 
for the Tortugas in the middle of March on the “ Laurel," which 
Lieut.-Commander Wright, in accordance with the permission of 
the Lighthouse Board, had kindly ordered to transport me and 
my assistant, Dr. Fewkes, to the Tortugas, with the necessary 
coal for the steam launch which had been placed at my disposal 
by Mr. Patterson. The launch I found ready at Key West, 
fully equipped, manned, and provisioned, thanks to the care of 
Lieut.-Commander Winn. 
