74 
From America and from Europe more or less effective expeditions 
had been sent out, but it was evident that it rested very specially 
with England to lay down the first broad outlines of the physical 
and biological conditions of the bottom of the ocean. 
The circumstances were very propitious ; and when Dr Carpenter 
addressed a letter to the Eirst Lord of the Admiralty, urging the 
despatch of a circumnavigating expedition for this purpose, their 
lordships, after a favourable report of the Hydrographer to the 
Navy, agreed to despatch such an expedition, if the Eoyal Society 
recommended it and furnished them with a feasible scheme. 
Mr Lowe, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, with great interest 
and sagacity, saw that such an enterprise was entirely beyond the 
reach of private means, and agreed to furnish the necessary funds. 
The “ Challenger” was chosen for the purpose, with Captain Nfres, 
a surveying officer of great experience and skill, to command her, 
and Professor Wyville Thomson as director of the Civilian Scientific 
Staff. He tells us that “ when the suggestion was made to him at 
the commencement of the negotiations to join the expedition, the 
sacrifice appeared in every way too great ; but as the various arrange- 
ments progressed, so many friendly plans were proposed on all hands 
to smooth away every difficulty, that he finally accepted a post 
which, to a younger naturalist, without the ties of a family and a 
responsible home, would be perhaps among the most delightful the 
world could offer,” 
The President and Council of the Poyal Society nominated the 
members of the Civilian Scientific Staff, and a Circumnavigating 
Committee, amongst whom were Dr Carpenter and Dr Wyville 
Thomson, suggested a scheme whereby it was believed the best 
results might be obtained. Sixteen of the eighteen large guns 
which the “ Challenger ” carried were removed ; she was fitted with 
a natural history workroom, a chemical laboratory, and furnished 
with every scientific appliance to the satisfaction of the director, 
and in a way entirely unprecedented for scientific purposes. With 
a ship thus equipped, and the responsibility of directing the most 
delicate and difficult scientific observations at sea for a period of 
three or four years, Dr Wyville Thomson left Portsmouth on the 
21st December 1872 with the good wishes and ardently expressed 
hopes of every lover of science in Great Britain. 
