92 
THE INDIAN MUSEUM: 1814—1914. 
in 1872 was deputed by the Trustees, with the sanction of 
the Government of India, to proceed to the Andaman Islands 
and make a collection of the marine fauna. Some two 
months were spent by him in making collections in the 
shallower waters down to a depth of fifty fathoms, but 
beyond this it was impossible for him to go, as he had only 
the use of a small steam-launch; towards the end of his stay 
in the islands, however^ he persuaded the Commandant of 
Port Blair to place the guardship, S.S ‘Undaunted,’ at his 
disposal for a day and he was thus able to carry out a series 
of hauls in depths ranging from 100 to 300 fathoms. During 
the next year or two the Society was slowly getting together 
such apparatus- as they considered necessary for deep-sea 
exploration, and in 1875 the President in his annual address 
remarked that the Indian Coastal Survey had at length been 
established and that all the apparatus for carrying out 
biological investigations was ready. The same year saw the 
creation of the post of Surgeon-Naturalist to the Marine Survey 
of India. 
The first officer to be appointed to the post was Dr. J. 
Armstrong, at that time a surgeon in the Bengal Army; but 
as yet there was no ship available and in consequence deep- 
sea sounding and trawling was impossible, as the Surgeon- 
Naturalist had, perforce, to confine his attentions to the 
fauna of the shallow w^aters (^.e., water under 100 fathoms) 
and of the littoral region. Surgeon Armstrong continued to 
hold the appointment till 1879, and he has left considerable 
evidence of his zeal and abilities in the shape of extensive 
collections, but his sole literary monument is a short paper, 
published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society on “ Hydroid 
Zoophytes from Indian Coasts and Seas.” In 1877 the 
‘ Challenger ’ returned from her voyage of discovery and 
the Asiatic Society of Bengal, taking advantage of her being 
put out of commission, requested the Government of 
India to apply to the Admiralty for some of her gear. The 
following year Lieut. Jarrard, R.N., who had been ap¬ 
pointed to the Marine Survey of India under Commander 
Dundas Taylor, was in England on leave and took the 
opportunity of meeting several of the ^ Challenger ’ scientific 
