183 



Dr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys on the 



[June 15^ 



attached to the dredge-rope, and held by a man on the fore bulwark, in 

 order to regulate the descent of the dredge and afterwards to assist in 

 its being hoisted on board ; and great care was taken that the swabs 

 were let down before the dredge, so that they did not get into the month 

 and choke it. Other particulars of a di'edging-operation have been al- 

 ready given in the Preliminary Eeports of the ' Porcupine ' Expedition, 

 and published in the ' Proceedings ' of the Society. A small portion of 

 the fore deck behind the capstan was enclosed by a sail and ropes for our 

 sifting and examination of the mud; three large tubs made for this 

 purpose, and nested or packed one within another for the convenience of 

 stowage, were filled with sea-water ; a tarpaulin was spread out, a seat 

 and rough table provided, and our sieves (a nested set of five and a 

 globe-sieve) were at once used to sift the mud. An array of basins, soup- 

 plates, jam-pots, and glass bottles with other apparatus were in order 

 on the table. Mr. Carpenter undertook the sifting, and I examined the 

 results and reserved some of the animals for more leisurely description. 

 The only MoUusca worth special notice were Terebratella Spitzbergensis 

 and fragments of Fusus Sahini of Grray. At 4 p.ar. we sounded and 

 dredged again in 85 fathoms. The dredge came up empty; but on 

 one of the swabs was a fine specimen of Antedon Eschricliti. 



9. Steamed slowly down the eastern coast of Davis Strait, and dredged 

 on the 28th in 100 fathoms, with no particular result as regards the 

 MoUusca. The next day we dredged twice on the Upper Torske Bank 

 (lat. 50' N., long. 55° 27' W.) in 20 fathoms, where a great many of 

 the usual Arctic MoUusca were obtained. On the 26th dredged t™e 

 in 60 fathoms. These last two hauls were very productive, and pelded 

 among other MoUusca the follo\\ing species : — Montacuta Dau'soni, 

 Tellina injlata, Filidiiun radiatum, and several species of Pleicrotoma, 

 including P. dedivis and a remarkable variety of P. Trevehjana, which 

 I propose to name SmitJiii, after Mr. Edgar Smith of the British 

 Museum. 



10. My narrative must now allude, although briefly, to an anxious state 

 of things which took place on the 27th of July, when we were about to 

 enter the natural harbour of Holsteinborg for baUast. The weather was 

 foggy, and we were therefore going slowly and cautiously under steam. 

 Without OLir hadng any suspicion of danger we suddenly found ourselves 

 stranded on a sunken reef of rocks about ten miles from Holsteinborg, 

 which had not been laid down on the chart. The wind was freshening, 

 and the ship was continually bumping and straining ; but most provi- 

 dentially the tide was rising. After a suspense that lasted several hours 

 the bow became free, and soon afterwards the ship flopoted and was got 

 safe to Holsteinborg. I cannot sufficiently express my admiration of 

 the prompt and skilful manner in which the Captain behaved in this 

 trying emergency. My feelings at the time were those of intense dis- 

 appointment; because I feared that, even if we escaped with our Kves, 



