A Dredging Excursion. 75 



'beautiful creatures move through the water is beyond the ima- 

 gination of those who have never witnessed it. In the Polar 

 Seas I have seen the surface of the ocean covered with quanti- 

 ties of the Beroe ovata, and other Acalephs, which form a prin- 

 cipal part of the food of the whale. The specimens of Cydvppe 

 jpileus which we have obtained are not so large as the Beroe. 

 They are somewhat globular, and have, besides the long thread- 

 like organs, a double series of ciliee attached to each of the eight 

 longitudinal radii. The long threads you will find are moveable 

 according to the will of the animal, and are retractile, and are 

 also furnished with cilice. The average size of the Cydippe is 

 about five lines and a half by four lines. 



We are now on the scene of our operations, and the helm 

 is put up, bringing the boat to the wind. As she drifts, the 

 dredge is brought to the stern and let go to windward. Twice 

 the quantity of line required by the depth of water is payed out, 

 made fast to a belaying-pin, and the remainder coiled up in the 

 bottom of the boat, the end being fastened to the mast for 

 safety. While we discuss the provisions which provident 

 dredgers supply, and which you will by this time feel the need 

 of, three hours being supposed to have elapsed since leaving 

 the shore — I will give you an idea of what operations are going 

 on at the bottom of the sea. And first to describe the dredge 

 in its simplest form, as others, however needful on stony boul- 

 dery shores, would be quite out of place here. Our dredge, 

 then, consists of a framework of iron and a net or bag. The 

 frame is made with moveable joints, to fold and carry in the 

 hand, and is from eighteen to twenty inches long, and from seven 

 to ten wide. The edges of the two long pieces are made broad 

 for scraping ; the cross pieces are merely for the handles of the 

 dredge, and have two swivel joints, so that a sideway motion 

 as well as the ordinary forward and backward one, is obtained, 

 which is useful in case of the dredge fouling stones, etc. The 

 t^o handles end in two rings, through which the dredging- 

 rope is passed and made fast. Care should be taken that the 

 knots are not made in what sailors call " a lubberly manner/' 

 or it is very likely that they may slip, and the dredge be left afc 

 the bottom of the sea, to be triumphed over by the inhabitants 

 as one of " our failures." The bag of our dredge is made of toler- 

 ably thick line, woven into a net, the meshes not very large, and 

 it is fastened to holes in the scraping side of the framework. The 

 dredging^rope should be sufficiently strong to anchor the boat 

 in smooth water ; though, of course, if there be much way on 

 her, that could not be expected. This strength is requisite in 

 case of the dredge fouling, when it is needful to let out some 

 of the spare line and relieve the strain while the boat is being 

 brought round. The dredge then capsizes, and can be hauled up. 



