52 
and during the anchorage in Blueskin Bay fishing-lines were put 
over. When the bait was below the sinker we got examples of dog- 
fish (Squalus fernandinus)* only: when above, red-cod (Physiculus 
bachus). The latter bore parasitic copepods in their gill-cavities. 
Dr. Chilton has identified them as Chondracanthus lotelle G. M. Thom- 
son, 
From the Ist to the 12th of July, the 7th excepted, hauls were 
made daily, fifty stations being charted to date, by which time we 
had worked the ground northward to Lyttelton Harbour. On this 
section I got eggs of Cephaloscyllium laticeps, previously unknown, 
and noted that almost every adult Pinna taken had its crustacean 
commensal, Pinnotheres. Here also happened the incident with the 
blind eel, detailed in the account of H’ptatretus forsterv. On the night 
of the 9th July we encountered a southerly gale, and I was twice 
tossed out of my bunk. When morning broke I found nearly all my 
gear on deck adrift; one large tank had vanished overboard, others 
were smashed, and the deck was littered with specimens not carried 
over the bulwarks or washed through the scuppers. Details of all 
the fishes taken at the various stations had been carefuily chronicled. 
Accompanying labels being solely relied upon in respect to the in- 
vertebrates, it is more than probable that the zoologists who are 
kindly examining the lower orders of animals taken will find some 
confusion in the records. Only one haul (Station 45) was made on 
the 10th, under shelter of the northern coast of Banks Peninsula. 
On the following day the dredge was lowered in 100 fathoms, sixty 
miles to the eastward (Station C). 
Twelve hauls (Stations 52-63) were made between the 15th July 
(on which date we sailed from Lyttelton) and the 19th (whereon Wel- 
lngton was reached). 
At Stations 55 and 56 thick sticky green mud or clay was en- 
countered, twenty to twenty-four miles east of Motunau Island. At 
the 55th station we were operating the port net, and on reaching 
the 40-fathoms line the whole of the “ belly ” and cod end were dragged 
out. The starboard net, a new one, was next used, and put over 
in deeper water—55 fathoms—but when 58 fathoms was reached 
serious trouble ensued. When the net was hauled to the surface it 
was found to contain an enormous weight of sticky clay, and, without 
warning, the whole net went to pieces, little but the head and ground 
ropes being left attached to the otter-boards. The otters themselves 
had been half-buried in the clay, masses of which still adhered to them. 
This dangerous area should be carefully surveyed and charted for the 
benefit of trawlers. 
Owing to a variety of circumstances, the waters to the north- 
ward of Wellington: w were not investigated at this stage. We left the 
* Mr. Tate Regan considers (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 8, ii, 1908, p. 46) 
that the New Zealand form, identified with 8. acanthias, is referable to this southern 
species. 
