302 
CRUISE OF H. MS. CHALLENGER. 
Minister) and Lady Parkes, many of the American, 
French, and Japanese naval officers, accepted invita- 
tions to take a trip for a few miles in the Bay of 
Yedo, for the purpose of witnessing the operations 
of sounding, dredging, and trawling for specimens of 
marine zoology. 
The weather at first was most unfavourable (wind 
and heavy rain). However, it eventually cleared, 
and a large party of ladies were amongst the number 
of visitors. About noon we steamed out from the 
anchorage, and when an offing of some four or five 
miles had been gained, preparations were made for the 
first operation, which was sounding. The depth was 
found to be 120 fathoms. The trawl was lowered. 
The processes were watched with seemingly great 
interest by the guests on board, and after a short 
interval had elapsed, the trawl was drawn up by 
the deck engine. The anxious crowd gathered on 
the bridge, and as fathom after fathom of the line 
came in, the eager throng held their breath in 
expectation of what was coming. They were, how- 
ever, not kept long in suspense. First appeared the 
shackle, then the trawl itself, with a few specimens 
of life from the bottom, including fish of various 
kinds, shells, stones, and mud. Water-bottles were 
lowered, and specimens obtained from various 
depths. The mode of taking serial temperatures 
was illustrated. 
After this lively scene, in which the different 
