RESULTS OF TEE SOUNDINGS . 
179 
on board for passage to Api — Survey Ngola Bay — The scenery— 
Tattooing — Meke Meke — Leave Fiji for the New Hebrides — Off 
Api — The natives land — The landing, and what was seen — Sound- 
ing and dredging — On onr way again — In the Coral Sea — Off the 
Louisiade Archipelago — Baine Island' — The Barrier Beefs — Anchor 
off Bird Island — Arrive at Somerset, Cape York, Queensland. 
The special object of our visit was to ascertain the 
oceanic section between Sydney and Wellington. 
The information obtained removes the last elements 
of uncertainty in the matter of submarine telegraphy 
between Australia and New Zealand, for during 
some time past the governments of the respective 
colonies have been negotiating on this subject. The 
soundings show that the depths increase gradually 
after leaving Sydney, but that the extreme deepness 
does not vary much for some hundreds of miles in 
mid-ocean, the water again decreasing as the coast 
of New Zealand is approached. For the greater part 
of the way across, the bottom was found to be very 
favourable for the repose of a light cable, it being 
composed of mud and sand. It is only when the 
shores of this coast are nearly reached that the 
bottom becomes of a somewhat doubtful character ; 
a stronger cable will therefore be required for the 
shore end. In all probability, now that these correct 
data have been ascertained, we shall find very 
shortly that New Zealand, like the Australian 
colonies, will be in instantaneous communication 
with Europe and America. 
Wellington, which since 1864 has been the capital 
