DAILY SOUNDINGS. 
175 
again resumed, and showed a depth of 2550 fathoms; 
and the next, 2600 fathoms; the temperature at this 
depth being 33°, and at the surface 64°. 
From this date the soundings commenced getting 
less, showing 1975 fathoms. A day or two after 
this it was 1100 fathoms; the temperature rising to 
36°. These indications of shallower water were not 
without cause, for now unexpectedly we came into 
400, 300, and at last only 275 fathoms. This was 
about 200 miles from the land. The question of the 
nature of the bottom at this part, where the land 
was being neared, was especially interesting and 
important. Results showing that the bottom was of 
a hard, stony kind, probably rock, which became 
more marked the nearer we got to the shore ; while 
the temperature had now risen to 38°, giving ad- 
ditional evidence of a decrease in the depth of the 
water. 
Placed in the very track of storms, and open to 
the sweep of seas from every quarter, exposed to 
waves that run from pole to pole, the shores of 
New Zealand are famed for surf and swell, and so 
we had found it up to the time that Cape Farewell 
was sighted, when the wind freshened considerably 
and increased in force, blowing violently from the 
south-east, with a very heavy sea, and it was decided 
to take shelter in Port Hardy (an inlet in the north 
of D’Urville Island) ; and none too soon, only just in 
time to escape the fury of the gale, which lasted 
