Antarctic Expedition . 
229 
apparent outline and structure of hills or lower tracts are the 
same, a few specimens from any one place will often indicate 
the general composition of the region. 
Make profiles of the land and sea coasts ; colour the latter 
if possible, according to their composition : colour also, should, 
opportunity permit, the coast views which accompany charts. 
Attend, on all occasions, to the gradual or sudden deepening 
of the sea; also to the soundings of previous navigators, and 
note if there be at present any difference. 
Make profiles of the soundings, and mark on them whatever 
the lead may bring up ; if living shells, note on the label of 
the specimen the depth, nature of the bottom, latitude and 
longitude, distance from the nearest coast, &c. 
If an opportunity offers of studying alluvial deposits, mark 
whether the beds of detritus are horizontal or inclined ; if ac¬ 
cumulated against abrupt cliffs; the manner in which the 
materials are disposed, whether horizontally or in sloping beds. 
Obtain all the information possible respecting the increase of 
sand-banks, or the destruction of cliffs and islands. 
If shoals or banks are discovered at a distance from land, 
procure as large a quantity as possible of the materials, to de¬ 
termine how far the shoals may have been formed by volcanoes. 
If rocks or shoals, not previously noticed, should be dis¬ 
covered in seas frequently visited, carefully examine them ; and 
if rocks and shoals, said to exist, should not be found, obtain, 
if possible, soundings, and preserve whatever the lead brings up. 
It will be desirable, M. Cordier remarks (jComptes Ttendns , 
1835, pp. 371, 372), whenever an expedition is stationary, not 
only to connect the specimens and observations, but to attempt, 
if possible, a monograph of one or more hills or mountains 
considered as characteristic of the region where they occur. 
With this view, specimens should be taken from all, or a great 
number of the beds, from the bottom to the summit, with exact 
notes of their thickness; and a sketch or section should be 
made, marked with numbers corresponding to the place of the 
specimens respectively. 
The last observation applies to specimens collected from 
cliffs: —of which illustrated sections, with their corresponding 
series of specimens, should be made as often as possible. 
Note the thickness of the beds, the dip, including the angle 
and direction ; observe whether they be traversed by fissures; 
and the direction of the fissures with regard to the compass. 
If more than one set of fissures, note the direction of each set. 
Stratification and cleavage. —Where a cliff consists ot beds 
of different materials, as sandstone, sand, clay, limestone, or 
slate, the change in the mineral character denotes the lines of 
stratification: if these beds arc traversed more or less obliquely 
by fine cracks, or lines, these are indications of the cleavage of 
the stone. 
