360 Scientific Intelligence. 



of the same dimensions which I had used on the " Blake " and 

 which has also been adopted on the "Albatross." During our 

 second cruise we steamed from Nassau for Harvey Cay crossing 

 the Bank from north to south to Flamingo Cay and then to Great 

 Ragged Cay, from which we took our departure for Baracoa. 

 At Baracoa I hoped to be able to ascend the Yomque ; unfortu- 

 nately I had to give up my trip owing to the desperate condition 

 of the roads. From Baracoa we steamed close to the shores to the 

 westward, touching at Port Banes, Port Padre, Cay Confiles, 

 Sagua, Cay Frances, Cardenas, Matanzas, and finally ending at 

 Havana. This trip was a continuation of the observations we 

 made on the south coast of Cuba and enabled me to trace the 

 gradual disappearance of the terraces from Baracoa to Neuvitas, 

 and their reappearance from Matanzas to Havana, from the same 

 causes which evidently influenced their state of preservation from 

 Cape Maysi west. I also got a pretty clear idea of the mode of for- 

 mation of the fine harbors found on the northern coast of Cuba to 

 the eastward of Neuvitas, and of the mode of formation of the ex- 

 tensive system of cays reaching from Neuvitas to Cardenas and 

 which find their parellel on the south coast of Cuba from Cape 

 Cruz to Cape Corrientes. After refitting at Havana we left for Nas- 

 sau. Both on going into Havana and on leaving we spent the 

 greater part of a day in towing with Tanner net. I thought I could 

 not select a better spot for finally settling the vertical distribution 

 of pelagic life than off Havana which is in deep water — 900 fathoms 

 — close to land, on the track of a great oceanic current, the Gulf 

 Stream, noted for the mass of pelagic life it carries along its course. 

 We towed in ICO, 150, 250, and 300 fathoms and on the surface at 

 or near the same locality, and I have found nothing to cause me to 

 change the views which I expressed in my Preliminary Reports of 

 the "Albatross" expedition of 1891. Nowhere did I find any- 

 thing which was not at some time found also at the surface. At 

 100 fathoms the amount of animal life was much less than in 

 the belt from 100 fathoms to the surface. At 150 fathoms there 

 was still less and at 250 fathoms and 300 fathoms the closed part 

 of the Tanner contained nothing. At each one of these depths 

 we towed fully as long as was required to bring the net to the 

 surface again. Thus we insured before the messenger was sent to 

 close the lower part of the bar as long a pull through water as 

 the open part of the net would have to travel till it reached the 

 surface, giving the fauna of a horizontal column of water at 100, 

 150, 250 and 300 fathoms of the same or greater length than the 

 vertical column to the surface for comparison of their respective 

 richness. From Havana we steamed to Cay Sal Bank, visited Cay 

 Sal, Double headed Shot Cays, Anguila Islands, and then crossed 

 over to the Great Bank to the west of Andros Island. The 

 bottom of this bank is of a most uniform level, 3 and 3-y fathoms 

 for miles and then very gradually sloping to the west shore 

 of Andros, so that we had to anchor nearly six miles from the 

 wide opening of the central part of Andros which we visited. The 



