J
During our further voyage through the South Atlantic a course
was held which brought us over the Hotspur and Victoria Banks—
snhmerged coral-reefs which are situated between the parallels of
17i° and 12° S. lat., and are about 180 miles from the east coast of
Brazil. In these two places we plied our dredges in depths ranging
from 35 to 39 fathoms, obtaining thereby a large number of zoological
specimens, among which were several novelties in the classes
of Sponges and Polyzoa. The collection made a t these stations
proved to be of special interest, as it helped to fill up a gap unavoidably
left by the ‘ Challenger ’ expedition in the marine zoology of
the South Atlantic. .
On the 27th November we anchored in the estuary of the river
Plate, off Monte Video, where we remained until the 14th December.
’ Sailing on the latter date, we shaped a course for the Falkland
Islands, and arrived at Stanley Harbour on the 26th inst. A few
weeks prior to the time of our visit to the Falklands a peculiar
avalanche of semifluid peat had poured down from the summit
of one of the low hills, laying waste a portion of the settlement.
We again put to sea on the evening of the 27th December, and
steering'’to the eastward, entered the Strait of Magellan on the
first day of the year 1879. After stopping for a few days at_ the
Chilian settlement of Sandy Point, we proceeded to our survey^g-
o-round among the channels on the west coast of Patagonia. Here
we spent the greater portion of the two succeeding years, executing
surveys of previously uncharted waters, and adding to those which
had been partially effected by our predecessors in the same field ;
hut during the more rigorous winter months we each year proceeded
north to Coquimbo, on the Chilian coast, where our ship was refitted
and fresh supplies of stores were obtained *. As the requirements
of the survey necessitated our visiting and anchoring in a great
many bays and inlets in this remote region, frequent opportunities
occurred for shallow-water dredging, so th at we were able to make
a laro-e collection of marine invertebrates—a branch of research to
which our attention was more especially directed, as we were aware
th at in other departments of biology the work done by the ‘ Erebus
and ‘ Terror,’ ‘ Nassau,’ and ‘ Challenger’ of our own navy, as well
as by many foreign vessels, left little to be desired.
During the month of March 1880 a visit extending over a few
days was made to Skyring Water, a large and almost completely
landlocked sheet of water situated to the eastward of the Cordillera,
and, so far as we yet know, only accessible by ship through a
narrow channel by which it communicates with the mam Strait of
Mao-ellan. And here I should remark th at in the month of July
18’f9, and during the surplus time allotted for refitting^our ship on
the Chilian coast, a brief visit was made to the island of St. Ambrose,
which lies about 500 miles to the north-west of Coquimbo.
* During the winter of 1879-80 Sir George Nares returned to England, and
was succeeded in the command of the ‘ Alert ’ by Captain Maclear, formerly of
the ‘ Challenger ’ Expeditiou.
On the 14th June, 1880, we bade adieu to the South-American
coast and sailed for Tahiti, spending much time on the way in
searching for the so-called Minerva Beef, which was reputed to
exist some 60 miles to the north-east of Manga Reva, one of the
Paiimotu group. Arriving at Tahiti on the 6th of August, we made
a stay of twelve days at th at interesting island, when we again got
under way and pursued a circuitous route towards the great Fiji
group.
The first place at which we touched on this voyage was Nassau
Island, whence we proceeded to the Union group, in 8 0 |° S. lat.,
passing within sight of Tema Reef and the Danger Islands, which
were found to be incorrectly placed on the charts. We made a short
stay at Oatafu, the most westerly island of the Union group, and
thence proceeded to Fiji.
We anchored off the settlement of Levukain the island of Ovalau,
Fiji, on the 18th of September, and remained there until the 10th
of October. We then steamed over to Tongatabu, in the Friendly
Islands, where we made a pleasant stay of ten days, but subsequently
spent some very dull weeks, aggravated by unusually
boisterous weather, in an uneventful search for the La Ranee Bank,
the non-existence of which was, however, satisfactorily demonstrated.
We returned to Levuka on the 4th of December, and
remained in harbour for ten days, when we entered upon the last
portion of our Pacific cruise, viz. the voyage from Fiji to Sydney.
We arrived at Sydney on the 23rd of January, 1881, and remained
there, refitting, until the 15th of April, when we steamed
up the east coast of Australia to our next surveying-ground.
During the ensuing six months we visited Port Curtis, Port
Molle, and Port Denison on the east coast of Queensland ; Lizard
Island, Flinders Island, Clack Island, Bird Island, Percy Islands,
Clairement Islands, and Albany Island, adjoining the coast ; and
while engaged on the survey of the Prince of Wales Channel, in
Torres Straits, we anchored off Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
Horne, West, Prince of Wales, Hammond, Goode, and Booby
Islands. In all these localities marine specimens were collected, as
well as in the more open parts of the Prince of Wales Channel,
where the depth rarely exceeds 30 fathoms. A good many interesting
specimens were also obtained through the assistance of the
pearl-shell divers, who have an extensive and lucrative industry in
these waters.
On leaving this channel we proceeded westwards through the
Arafura Sea, sounding and dredging, until we reached Port Darwin,
in North-west Australia. Here we remained from the 3rd to the
18th of November, when we again got under way and steamed
through the Eastern Archipelago to Singapore. We reached this
port on the 18th November, 1881, and remained there for two and
a half months, spending most of the time in dock, where our
ship underwent an extensive refit. We now received orders to
undertake a survey of the Amirautés and neighbouring islands and
reefs in the South-Indian Ocean, using Seychelles as our base for
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