IN THE WAKE OF THE 44 CHALLENGER. 
3 
The objects of the expedition are perhaps best expressed by 
the following abstract from the 44 Scientific Orders ” of the 
Challenger : — 44 The principal object of the proposed expedition 
is understood to be to investigate the physical and biological 
condition of the great ocean basiD.”* The route proposed was 
as follows : — Down the coast of Portugal and Spain ; across the 
Atlantic, from Madeira to the West India Islands ; thence to 
Bermuda, then to the Azores, Cape de Verde Islands ; along the 
coast of South America, across the Atlantic to the Cape of 
Good Hope. Thence by Marion Island, the Crozets, and Ker- 
guelen’s Island, to Australia and New Zealand, going southward 
en route , opposite the centre of the Indian Ocean, as near as 
may be, with convenience and safety, to the southern ice- barrier. 
From New Zealand, through the Coral Sea and Torres Straits 
westward, between Bali and Lombok ; thence through Celebes 
and South Seas to Manila. Then eastward into the Pacific, 
visiting New Guinea, New Britain, and the Solomon Islands. 
Afterwards to Japan, where some time might be profitably spent. 
Thence the course should be directed across the Pacific to Van- 
couver’s Island, southerly through the eastern trough of the 
Pacific, and then homewards round Cape Horn. Special atten- 
tion must be paid to the fauna and flora of Marion Island, 
Crozets, and Kerguelen’s Islands, and of any new groups to be 
met with in the region to the south-east of the Cape of Good 
Hope. If possible, the Aucklands, Campbell, and Macquarie 
Islands should be touched at. The zoology of the sea between 
New Zealand, Sydney, New Caledonia, and the Fiji and Friendly 
Islands should be carefully investigated, as it is possible that 
the Antarctic fauna may be found here at accessible depths. 
Physical Observations . — These are to be made at stations 
the position of which have been carefully determined, and 
chosen, so far as possible, at equal distances apart. At each 
station should be noted the time of the observation, the weather, 
the temperature of the surface of the sea, the depth, and the 
bottom temperature, by means of two Miller-Casella thermo- 
meters,! with the specific gravity of both the surface and of the 
bottom water. The nature of the bottom is to be determined 
by an apparatus to bring up samples, and, if possible, by the 
dredge. When practicable the amount and nature of the gases 
contained in the water should be determined. In the path of 
the Challenger Expedition and its hearing on Geological Problems,” 
delivered at the Loyal Institution, on Friday evening, Jan. 29, 1875. — See 
“ Proc. Royal Inst.,” vol. vii. part 5, April 1875. 
* u Nature,” vol. vii. pp. 191 and 252. 
t This instrument, and its copper case, are figured at pp. 291, 292 of 
Prof. Wyville Thomson’s “ Depths of the Sea,” Lond. 1873. 
