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Part III. — Fifteenth Annual Report 



(5) In the western part of the Moray Firth and in the Firth of Forth 

 the movements are much less regular, and depend directly upon 

 the winds and tides. 



In describing the course taken by the drifters it will be convenient, in 

 the first place, to consider the area over which their movements occurred, in 

 sections; namely, (1) the region of the Shetland and Orkney Isles; (2) 

 the Moray Firth ; (3) the east coast of Scotland ; (4) the east coast of 

 England ; (5) the eastern part of the North Sea, south of the Skagerrak ; 

 (6) the Skagerrak, Christiania Fjord, and coast of Norway. 



Shetland — Orkney Area. 



In the first named region drifters were put into the sea in the Faroe- 

 Shetland Channel, between Shetland and Orkney, and at various places 

 in the neighbourhood of these islands. The places and the apparent 

 course of the floats are indicated in the adjoining chart (fig. 2), and it 

 will be observed that, in the great majority of cases, the course of the 

 bottles was eastward or southward. At the end of July and the beginning 

 of August 1896, a number of drift-bottles and slips were thrown over- 

 board from H.M.S. 'Research' at seven stations west and north of the 

 Shetlands, as shown in the chart ; and some from every station w r ere 

 recovered with the exception of the station known as ' Jackal No. XIV ' 

 (lat. 61° 18J' N. long. 4° 21 J' W.), which lies midway between the Faroe 

 Isles and the Shetlands. Of the twenty-two 'Research' drifters 

 recovered, sixteen were found on one or other of the Shetland Isles, two 

 on the Orkney Isles, one on the coast of Aberdeenshire, and three on the 

 west coast of Norway. The details of each are given in the Table (p. 388), 

 but some of the chief facts may be described. Three of those set adrift 

 on the 30th July, about 65 miles to the north of the Shetlands (lat. 61° 

 49 J' N. long. 0° 43' W.), were picked up on the beach at Fetlar and 

 Yell, more than ninety miles to the south, one on the 12th September and 

 the other two on the 14th September, or 44 and 46 days after they 

 were put into the water. One of those set adrift on 31st July at lat. 

 61° 1' N. and long. 3° 13' W. was picked up near Lerwick, over 100 

 miles to the south-east, on 4th December. Six of those from a point 

 about 125 miles west of the Shetlands (lat. 60° 38 J' N. long. 5° 35J' W.), 

 put adrift on the 5th August, were picked up at various places in the north 

 of Shetland between 27th August and 7th September, the distances travelled 

 in that time ranging from 116 to about 150 miles. One was found on 

 24th February 1897, at Sorsmolen, near Christiansund N., in the province 

 of Romsdal, Norway, having travelled about 430 miles in the 204 days. 



The one first found, on 27th August, was carried at least 138 miles in 

 the 22 days it was afloat ; and all these drifters had travelled eastward 

 and a little southward. 



Of those put away, on the 1st August, about 135 miles west of the 

 southern part of the Shetlands (lat. 60° 3' N. long. 5° 48' W.), two were 

 picked up on the Shetlands, two on Orkney, and one at Cruden Bay, 

 Aberdeenshire. The first recovered was found, forty days after it had been 

 put into the water, on the east side of the Mainland, Orkney, about 118 

 miles distant ; the first one found on Shetland was picked up on the 28th 

 September on the west side, about 124 miles distant. The drifter found 

 on the coast of Aberdeen, over 200 miles from the place where it was 

 thrown into the water, was not picked up until the 22nd December, 144 

 days afterwards. Two of those set adrift on 7th August in lat. 59° 42' 

 N. long. 7° 7' W. were found on the east side of the Shetlands on 6th 



