Cruise of 1908 from Valentia to the Facroe Banks and Orkney 19 



got beyond the 100-fathom line until Sunday, June 21, when the 

 position Lat. 51° 34' N., Long. 12° 80' W., was reached. All day the 

 wind blew hard from the south, and the yacht dodged all day and 

 night with sails reefed. At 4 a.m. on Monday, the weather having 

 considerably moderated, a sounding gave 725 fathoms. The closing- 

 net was used at 700 fathoms and each 100 fathoms above it. For 

 the next thirty-six hours the weather was very dirty, but on June 24 

 the ship was hove to, the wind having dropped, in Lat. 51° 00' N., 

 Long. 11° 32' W., and a sounding gave 375 fathoms. The closing-net |^ tion 

 was used down to 300 fathoms. 



After a course of 20 miles west-north-west, the ship was hove to all 



Static 

 E5. 



night, and at 5 a.m. on June 24 a sounding was taken in Lat. 51° 00', 

 Long. 12° 00', giving 980 fathoms. With such a heavy sea the 

 closing-net, put down to 900 fathoms, though with a perfectly ' plumb ' 

 line, captured nothing, and only water samples were taken from 

 900 fathoms to the surface. Two of the thermometers to-day were 

 rendered useless, one having the end broken off and the other coming 

 up with the mercury above the index. The glass falling, and every- 

 thing looking as unpromising as possible for work, the ship was put 

 back to Valentia. 



On July 5 another useless attempt was made to work a deep-water |^ tion 

 station ; after dodging round for three days with strong gales and 

 heavy sea, a sounding gave 1,030 fathoms and a bottom temperature 

 of 4-4° the position, Lat. 50° 56' N., Long. 12° 6' W. With a double- 

 reefed mainsail, storm-jib and reefed foresail and double-reefed mizzen, 

 the ship pitched about all night with a very heavy swell from the north. 

 Next morning, July 6, the wind dropped, and in the same position the 

 closing-net was put down to 1,000 fathoms, bringing up quite a decent 

 haul, then to 700, 500, 300, 200, and 100, all very successful. The 

 triangle net, put clown with 120 fathoms of rope in front of the net, a 

 16-pound lead, and 1,000 fathoms of wire, brought up about 2 cwt. 

 of chalky ooze from the bottom, with nothing in it but a few shells. 

 The closing-net brought up in the 500-fathom haul a lovely specimen 

 of Acanthopyra sica (vel Agassizi). 



3—2 



