138 National Geograjphio Magazine. 



An epoch in the progress of this science is marked by the ap- 

 pearance of Maury's Wind and Current Charts, his Physical 

 Geography of the Sea, and his Sailing Directions, which contain 

 the record of the first deep soundings taken by United States ves- 

 sels ; and to the United States, through Maury's efforts, belongs 

 the honor of having inaugurated the first regular cruise for the 

 purpose of sounding in great depths. 



Under the instructions of Maury the U. S. brig Dolphin, com- 

 manded by Lieutenant Lee, and subsequently by Lieutenant Berry- 

 man, was detailed in 1851-3 to search for reported dangers in the 

 Atlantic, and to sound regularly at intervals of 200 miles going 

 and returning. The Dolphin was provided with Midshipman 

 Brooke's sounding apparatus and with it succeeded in obtaining 

 specimens of the bottom from depths of 2,000 fathoms. About 

 the same period the U. S. ships Albany, Plymouth, Congress, 

 John Adams, Susquehanna, St. Louis and Saranac also made 

 soundings in various localities, and to the U. S. S. Portsmouth, 

 in 1853, belongs the honor of having reported the first really 

 deep-sea sounding obtained in the Pacific, 2,850 fathoms, in 

 about 39° 40' K, and 139° 26' W. 



The practicability of this work was thus fully demonstrated, 

 and, although some of the earlier results, through defective 

 appliances and lack of experience, were not entirely ti'ustworthy, 

 its character and success will always be a tribute to American 

 enterprise and ingenuity. 



With the advent of the submarine telegraph the investigation 

 of the depth and configuration of the ocean bed became of vital 

 importance, and the work of sounding for that purpose was taken 

 up with activity ; one of the first voyages in the interest of these 

 projects was that of the U. S. S. Arctic, under the command of 

 Lieut. O. H. Berryman, in 1856, between St. Johns, Newfound- 

 land, and Yalentia, Ireland. 



The civil war naturally put a stop to these operations by United 

 States ships. The U. S. schooner Fenimore Cooper was about 

 the last engaged in this work, sounding in 1858-59 in the Pacific 

 to 3,400 fathoms, and also reporting a sounding of 900 fathoms 

 only f of a mile west of Gaspar Rico Reef, in about 14°41' N. and 

 168° 56' E. 



The work so well begun by the Americans was quickly taken 

 up by other governments, and we find from that time to the pres- 

 ent, the records of a large number of expeditions for diverse scien- 



