28 EXPEDITION OF THE "ALBATROSS," 1899-1900. 



We left Papeete,^ November 15th, after coaling and refitting on our 

 return from the Pauniotiis. 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 Nine ; 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 Nine we steamed for the deep hole of the Tonga-Kermadec 

 Deep, about seventy-five miles to the eastward of Tongatabu, 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, Init found, as we expected from the soundings given farther 

 south, comparatively shoal water, viz. : 1381 fathoms. In the channel 

 north of Yangasa, where we crossed the Lau Plateau, between Yangasd 

 and Motile, we found 453 fathoms, with bottom composed of coral sand, 



' Explorations of the "Albatross" in the Pacific. III. [Lettei- Xo. 3, dated Suva Harbor, Fiji 

 Islands, Deccnilier lltb, 1899, to Hon. Oeorge M. Howers, U. S. Commissioner of Fisli an<l Fislieries, 

 W^ashington, I). C, hy Alexander Agassiz.] Am. Joiir. Sii., Fourth .Series, Vol. IX., Xo. i>\, March, 

 1900. 



