170 



Dr. Carpenter's Preliminary Report [Dec. 17, 



8. We reached Thorsaven on the morning of August 1 7th ; and, as the 

 weather was then fine, we applied ourselves without delay to the explora- 

 tion of the Fiords in its vicinity, using for this purpose the boats of the 

 country, with native boatmen, whose knowledge of the tides and currents 

 was indispensable to us. Unfortunately the weather again became so unfa- 

 vourable as to prevent us from extending our inquiries to more distant loca- 

 lities, at the same time that the low state of the barometer rendered it in- 

 expedient to put to sea again for the prosecution of our special object *. 

 We found, however, that the Shells of the straits and fiords of the Faroes 

 had been carefully collected by Sysellman Miiller, who has long been in 

 the habit of availing himself of the opportunities for dredging afforded 

 by his official visits to different parts of the group ; and that a List 

 of the Mollusca found in them has been recently published by Dr. 

 O. A. L. Morch f. The result of our own dredgings, taken in connexion 

 with the information obtained from these sources, leads us to believe that 

 farther exploration in this locality is not likely to bring out facts of any 

 special interest. The tides and currents in the Straits between the islands 

 are so strong as to render the deepest parts of the mid-channels (in which 

 alone could any novelty be anticipated) an unsuitable habitation for Marine 

 Invertebrata ; and in the long narrow fiords which extend from these between 

 the elevated ridges of Trap that traverse the interior of the islands the 

 water is seldom of any considerable depth, and probably contains a large 

 admixture of fresh water from the almost continuous rainfall which here 

 prevails. The general character of the Marine Zoology of the Faroes, as 

 of their adjacent banks, seems to be just what might be expected from 

 their position on the border between the British, Scandinavian, and Boreal 

 provinces. 



9. At the first indication of improvement in the weather, we left Thors- 

 aven on the 26th of August, with the intention of reaching the deep chan- 

 nel which we expected to find lying E. and W., between the North of 

 Scotland and the Faroe Banks, as soon as possible, and of exploring this 

 channel as completely as we might be able. At the end of our first day of 

 steaming southwards, however, we encountered a gale from the S.W., 

 in the course cf which the barometer fell to 29 inches, and which was 

 severe enough to do much damage to our ship ; and it was not until 

 the afternoon of August 29th that, after lying-to for nearly three days 

 under canvas and drifting to the N.E., we were able to obtain a 

 Sounding in lat, 60° 45' and long. 4° 49'. This gave us a depth of 510 

 fathoms [933 metres]; and the two thermometers sent down with the 



* We learned on our return home that heavy gales had been experienced at this date 

 in British seas. 



t Faunula Molluscorum Insularum Fseroensium. Beretning om de hidtil fra Faeroerne 

 hel<jendte Blbddyr : Af 0. A. L. Morch (Aftryk af Naturhistorisk Forenings Vidensk. 

 Meddel Nos. 4-7, 1867. Kjobenhavn). — Dr. Morch gives a very elaborate comparative 

 Table of the distribution of the Mollusca in Greenland, Iceland, the Faroes, Scotland, 

 England, and Denmark. 



