THE WAY TO MAKE A CHART 15 



as nothing in comparison with obvious and tangible 

 results of immediate practical application. 



In its earliest days, the work of the Survey was 

 carried on in boats and small craft ; but in the year 

 1 88 1 there was built in Bombay dockyard, a wooden 

 paddle-steamer of 581 tons displacement, specially 

 designed and equipped for the prosecution of a hydro- 

 graphic survey according to modern methods. 



This little steamer was named Investigator, She has 

 a white hull and two buff-coloured funnels, and she 

 flies the blue ensign with the Star of India emblazoned 

 on the field. My history begins with the Investigator 

 as I found her in the year 1888, when I joined her in 

 the capacity of Surgeon- Naturalist, and ends when I 

 left her four years afterwards. 



There are certain preliminary explanations that have 

 to be made by anyone who wishes to tell an intel- 

 ligible story of the doings of a modern survey-ship ; for 

 w^e must start with some idea of the ship's economy 

 — of the nature, method, and general bearings of her 

 work. These tedious brief explanations shall here be 

 made as simple as possible, to the avoidance of all 

 precise technical descriptions. 



The first question that everyone asks is. What does 

 a survey-ship do ? The answer is, Her principal busi- 

 ness is to make charts and sailing-directions for 

 mariners. The mariner not only wants to know the 

 shortest and securest routes from port to port, and how 



