1876.] 



Biology of the 'Valorous^ Cruise, 1875. 



179 



the specimens of JNTatural History obtained may be placed at the disposal 

 of the Admiralty for transmission to the British Museum. 



" I am, Sir, 

 " Tour obedient Servant, 



(Signed) " YEE^foiq- LusHi^^GTOiir." 



" Tlie Seci^etary to the Boyal Society, 

 Burlington Housed 



2. The ' Valorous ' is a paddle-wheel steamer of 1257 tons and 400 

 horse-power, commanded by Capt. Loftus F. Jones, and haying a crew of 

 248, including officers, seamen, and marines. She carried six guns ; but 

 these had been taken out to make room for extra cabin accommodation 

 and stores. "We had a donkey-engine and a good supply of ropes, 

 dredges, with nets, accumulators (or indicators), and various other appa- 

 ratus for sounding, dredging, and collecting specimens. I was fortunate 

 in being able to secure the services of Mr.^erbert P. Carpenter as my 

 assistant. He is a son of Dr. Carpenter, and accompanied his father in 

 the short deep-sea exploration of H.M.S. ' Lightning ' in 1868. He 

 was of the greatest assistance to me, and showed such scientific abilities 

 of a high order, that I shall not be wrong in predicting for him a most 

 successful and distinguished career as a naturalist. I would here also 

 take the opportunity of acknowledging my sincere obligations to Capt. 

 Jones, not only for his personal attentions, but for the highly satisfactory 

 manner in which he carried out the scientific operations in the face of 

 considerable difficulties. The other officers also deserve my best thanks 

 for the unvaried kindness of their companionship. 



3. On Saturday, the 29th of May, at 4 p.m., we left Spithead in com- 

 pany with the ' Alert ' and ' Discovery.' Our vessel was deeply laden 

 with coal and provisions for the other vessels ; and while sailing we had 

 some difficulty in keeping up with them. After touching at Cork to post 

 letters for the squadron and take in more coal, and my going on board 

 the 'Alert' at the entrance of Bantry Bay to greet my friends, Capt. 

 JSTares, Commander Markham, and Capt. Feilden (the naturalist), and to 

 make the acquaintance of the other officers, we parted company with the 

 Arctic ships on the 5th of June, and did not again rejoin them until we 

 met at Disco on the 6th of July. On our passage we encountered very 

 heavy weather, with strong persistent north-westerly winds, which 

 greatly retarded our course, and made every one extremely uncomfort- 

 able. One day we gained 6 miles only, and another day lost 8. We had, 

 in nautical phrase, " a regular dusting." 



4. The only natural-history work we could do on the outward voyage 

 was, during the intervals between storms, to use the towing-net. In 

 latitude 58° 59' N., longitude 34° 13' W. (between 200 and 300 miles 

 east of Cape Farewell), we caught some floating masses of pulpy greenish 

 matter, which at first looked like a3i oceanic sponge, but has since been 



o2 



