416 



Messrs. Carpenter, Jeffreys, and Thomson [Nov. 18, 



most convenient storage-room was assigned for them that the small size of 

 the vessel permitted. 



28. The unexpected amount of the Collections made during each Cruise, 

 and especially during the Third, put all these resources to a severe test ; 

 and it is satisfactory to be able to state that nothing was found wanting 

 which could not be supplied at the ports at which the * Porcupine' put in. 



29. The work of the Expedition was distributed, according to the plan 

 originally marked out, into Three Cruises : the first of which was under the 

 Scientific charge of Mr. Jeffreys, who was accompanied by Mr. "W. L. Car- 

 penter ; the second under the Scientific charge of Prof. Wyville Thomson, 

 who was accompanied by Mr. Hunter ; and the third under the Scientific 

 charge of Dr. Carpenter, who had the advantage of the companionship of 

 Prof. Wyville Thomson, as well as of his son Mr. P. Herbert Carpenter. — 

 The ground assigned to the First and Second Cruises, however, was some- 

 what different from that originally proposed (p. 399). For as it was con- 

 sidered that the exploration of the " Porcupine Bank," which lies about 

 150 miles to the west of Galway, and beyond which the water rapidly 

 deepens to 1500 fathoms, would be likely to afford results of great value, 

 and would present a very suitable locality for ascertaining to what depths 

 Dredging could be successfully carried down, it was arranged that this 

 exploration, with that of the deep channel intervening between the British 

 plateau and " Rockall Bank" should be the work of the First Cruise ; and 

 that in the Second Cruise this exploration should be carried on in a north- 

 erly and north-westerly direction, so as to be connected with the work 

 which had been assigned to the Third Cruise, viz. the more thorough and 

 extended exploration of the region traversed in the ' Lightning* Expedition. 

 — It will be seen hereafter (§ 40) that it was by a change subsequently 

 made in the direction of the Second Cruise that the most remarkable 

 achievement in the whole Expedition was rendered possible. 



NARRATIVE. 

 First Cruise. (Chart, Plate 4.) 



30. The First Cruise of H.M.S. ' Porcupine ' commenced on the 18th 

 of May, and ended on the 13th of July. It comprised the Atlantic 

 coasts of Ireland, from the Skelligs to Rockall (a distance of about 6|° 

 or 450 miles), Loughs S willy and Foyle on the north coast, and the 

 North Channel on the way to Belfast. The first dredging was made on 

 our way round from AYoolwich to Galway, on the 24th of May, about 

 forty miles off Yalentia, in 1 10 fathoms ; bottom sandy, with a little mud. 

 The Fauna was mostly Northern ; and the following are the more remark- 

 able species then procured : — Molltjsca : Ostrea cochlear, Necera ros- 

 trata, Verticordia abyssicola, Dentalium abyssorum, Aporrhais Serre- 



