28 EXPEDITION OF THE “ALBATROSS,” 1899-1900. 
We left Papeete November 15th, after coaling and refitting on our 
return from the Paumotus. During our trip to Suva we made a few 
soundings from Tahiti to Tonga, striking the northern extension of the 
deep basin lying to the eastward of Niue; the depths ranged from 2472 
to 2882, the bottom being red clay. This would indicate a greater exten- 
sion westward of the zone over which the manganese-nodule bottom is 
known to extend. 
After leaving Niue we steamed for the deep hole of the Tonga-Kermadec 
Deep, about seventy-five miles to the eastward of Tongatébu, and in 
4173 fathoms made a haul with the “ Blake” beam-trawl, by far the deepest 
trawl-haul yet made. The gear was carefully inspected, and strength- 
ened as far as practicable by Captain Moser, and it was with considerable 
anxiety that we laid out 5000 fathoms of wire rope for our haul. Fortu- 
nately, everything went off successfully, and we landed the trawl safely 
back on deck. To my great surprise we found in the bag a number of 
large fragments of a silicious sponge belonging probably to the genus 
Crateromorpha, which had been obtained by the “Challenger” in the 
Western Pacific, but in depths less than 500 fathoms. We also brought 
up quite a large sample of the bottom; it consisted of light-brown vol- 
canic mud mixed with Radiolarians. 
We decided to trawl at 4173 fathoms rather than wait for a possibly 
deeper sounding, as.the conditions for work were admirable and we did 
not care to run any risk from a change of weather. After our haul we 
made a still deeper sounding in the proximity of the 4762-fathom sounding 
marked on the chart, and found 4540 fathoms, with the bottom of the 
same character as at the place where we trawled. We also took a couple 
of soundings in the line from Vavau to the southern extremity of the Lau 
Group in Fiji, but found, as we expected. from the soundings. given farther 
south, comparatively shoal water, viz.: 15381 fathoms. In the channel 
north of Yangas4, where we crossed the Lau Plateau, between Yangasé 
and Mothe, we found 453 fathoms, with bottom composed of coral sand, 
1 Explorations of the “ Albatross” in the Pacific. IIT. [Letter No. 3, dated Suva Harbor, Fiji 
Islands, December 11th, 1899, to Hon. George M. Bowers, U. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, 
Washington, D. C., by Alexander Agassiz.] Am. Jour. Sci., Fourth Series, Vol. IX., No. 51, March, 
1900. 
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