628 
THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 
9 a.m. a sounding, trawling, and temperatures were taken in 1050 fathoms, a strong 
northerly set being experienced the whole time. The temperature of the water decreased 
regularly from the surface to the bottom, or nearly to the bottom, showing that the China 
Sea was open to the influence of the Pacific to a depth of between 900 and 1000 fathoms 
(see Sheet 31 and Diagram 14). At 4 p.m. the trawl was hove up, and at 5 p.m. sail 
was made to a northeast breeze, which gradually freshened as the land disappeared. 
The deposit at 1050 fathoms was a bluish coloured mud containing 20 per cent, of 
carbonate of lime, which was chiefly composed of the shells of pelagic organisms. 
The trawl brought up several pieces of pumice and some leaves and palm fruits, to which 
a Chiton , a Patella, and a few worm tubes were attached. There were also two species 
of Macruridse and many Echinoderms, among others Cystechinus clypeatus, A. Ag. ; 
Phormosoma lueulentum, A. Ag. ; Phormosoma bursarium,A. Ag. ; Podocidaris pfionigera, 
A. Ag. ; Ophioglypha radiata, Lyman ; Ophiomitra plicata, Lyman ; and many others. 
The 14th and 15th were cloudy days, with a fresh northeast monsoon and strong 
southwesterly current; on the 15th the velocity of the current was a little over 2 miles 
per hour. 
On the 16th, at 7 a.m., the land was observed ahead; at 8 a.m. the northeast head 
of Lema Island bore N. 2° W., Pountin Island N. 25° W., Peaked Rock N. 62° W., 
showing a current of 26 miles S. 37° W. since noon on the previous day. At 11 a.m. the 
ship passed through the Taitami Channel, and steering through the Lamma and Sulphur 
Channels, anchored at Hong Kong at 2.15 p.m. 
There is one point in connection with the navigation of China waters that it may be 
as well to mention here, namely, that the numerous junks met with off the principal 
ports carry no lights, but on the approach of vessels burn a flare up light from the stern. 
They generally sail in couples, and are nearly all rigged in the same way, carrying two 
sails, the smaller one forward. These facts are, of course, well known to all seamen 
who traverse the China Sea, but may nevertheless be useful to the navigator who first 
makes his landfall on the China coast during the night. 
In the surface nets on the 13th there were enormous numbers of Foraminifera and 
Radiolaria, the most abundant hauls of the former being procured when the net was 
sent down to 100 fathoms beneath the surface. In the same nets there were several fine 
specimens of Alciope, several new forms of which were obtained by the Expedition as 
stated in the following notes by Professor MTntosh, F.R.S., whose Report on the Annelida 
collected by the Naturalists during the cruise is now being printed : — 
The Annelida. — “ The collection of Annelids procured by the Challenger is both 
extensive and valuable, and though many are fragmentary, it is to be recollected that the 
bristles and other parts form very reliable features in diagnosis. The total number of 
species is over three hundred, and they include representatives of almost every family. 
