1-iu. 1.—jjiagiam cu iisin icied Iroiu
Seria] Souiidmg No. 59.
during our stay. At h a lt past
live Ave steamed out of the
Camber and passed among the
reefs to Murray’s anchorage
on the north-east side of the
island, AAdiere we anchored for
the night. Next morning Ave
proceeded through the narrows,
and early in the forenoon, having
seen the last of the heau-
tiful though treacherous purple
shadows in tlie bright green
Avaters of Bermudas, Ave set all
plain sail and stood on onr
course to Faval. In the after-
noon Ave got up steam and
sounded, lat. 32° 37' N., long.
04° 21' AV., in 1,500 fathoms,
Avith the usual grey-Avhite chalky
bottom Avhich surrounds the
reefs. A serial temperature-
sounding indicated a distribution
of temperature very similar
to th a t at Station 55 to the
north of Bermudas ; the Avariu
hand to a depth of 350 fathoms
Avas still very marked (Big. 1).
Our position at noon on the
15th A v a s , lat. 33° 11' N., long.
01° 28' AA'., 1,010 miles froin
Bayal.
On the morning of the 10th
AVC sounded in 2,575 fatlioms
A v i t h a bottom of reddish ooze
containing many foraminifera. The bottom-tempera-
ture was 1°‘5. A small, ratlicr heavy trawl, with a
beam 11^ feet in length, was p u t over in the morning ;
hut when it Avas hauled in about five in the afternoon
it Avas found th a t it had not reached the bottom. This
was the first case of failure Avitli the traAvl; it Avas probably
caused by the drift of the ship being someAvhat
greater than Ave supposed. The net contained a specimen
of one of the singular and beautiful fishes lielong-
ing to the Sternoptychidae, an aberrant family of the
Physostomi, distinguished by having on some part
of the body ranges of spots or glands producing a
phosphorescent secretion. The surface of the body
is in most of the species devoid of scales, h u t in lieu
of these the surface of the skin is broken up into
hexagonal or rectangular areae, separated from one
another by dark lines and coAured Avith brilliant
silvery pigment dashed Avith various shades of bronze,
or green, or steel blue. AAY have taken in all five or
six species of these fishes in the net aa Iicii dredgO imOr
or traAvling. They certainly, hoAvever, do not come
from the bottom ; it seems probable th a t they are
caught in the net on its passage at some little distance
below the surface, where there is reason to lielieA e
th at there is a considerable development of a peculiar
pelagic fauna.
On the 17th the traAvl Avas loAvered at seAun in tlie
morning, aud in the afternoon a sounding Avas taken
in 2,850 fathoms. Several examples of a large and
handsome species of the genus ScaJiiellum came up
in the traAA’l, a few still adhering to some singular
looking concretionary masses Avhich they brought up
along Avith them.
li 2