ANNIVEKSABY ADDKESS. 35 



gurnards coming to the surface and floating away astern. When 

 whiting had been netted, large numbers were lost in this way. 

 Many fish also escaped over the ground line in consequence of the 

 ill adapted nature of the Thetis for trawling, the most valuable fish 

 lost in this way were dories, but nannegai, boar-fish, leather- 

 jackets and others also escaped. 



"An iron-frame dredge fitted with a fine net, designed to secure 

 smaller specimens, was lost at the first essay and contributed so 

 largely to the extensive damage sustained by the trawl (to the 

 bunt-line of which it was secured) that it was not deemed advisable 

 to renew attempts with the duplicate carried. Whenever rocks 

 were encountered, the fishes obtained were few in number and 

 species, and most of those netted escaped through the large spaces 

 rent in the net. On such occasions a rich harvest of invertebrates 

 usually resulted, comprising comatulas, sponges, ascidians, gor- 

 gonias, crustaceans, etc. 



"In eighty fathoms off Botany, between two and three hundred 

 examples of the rare echinoderm Phormosoma hoplocantha were 

 trawled, previously obtained only by the "Challenger" in deep 

 water (410 - 1375 fathoms). Mr. Whitelegge, who has only had 

 time to make the most casual inspection of the invertebrates, tells 

 me that there are a great many additions to the known fauna of 

 the coast and doubtless a goodly number new to science, which he 

 hopes he may have the opportunity of describing. With regard 

 to the mollusca, being mostly small, they of course escaped through 

 the large meshes, and it was only when sea-weed or rocks were 

 encountered that much opportunity of collecting offered itself. 

 The results however, so Mr. Hedley informs me, prove of excep- 

 tional interest. Many specimens of the magnificent Voluta 

 mamilla, the first recorded in so low a latitude, were obtained. 

 What appears on a casual inspection to be a Brachiopod new to 

 science and a sea slug obtained for the second time in half a 

 century, are other noteworthy captures. Experiments were also 

 made with tow nets designed to secure pelagic or surface swim- 



