The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-01 00:00:00

7- "

" "Upon inquiry, I was informed that the large Fiord of
Tessermiut, immediately to the ?smith of Nennortalik, was
the most likely place to find security for a cable, that ice-
bergs never came into it, and that there would be found
ample depth ti water from it out to sea ; aT• o, that near to
Nennortalik secure anchorage in moderat._, depth would be
found in a large bay, and also anchorage up in the fiord.
The metamorphic rock of South Greenland is frequently tra •

versed by broad trap dykes, far less dal able in character.

These dykes are seen in the faces of cliffs, and so eroded as to
form deep cuts or chasms leading down into the sea. It has
been suggested to select one of these natural fissures in some
cliffs which the icebergs do not approach, and where the
depth is much too great for ordinary pack ice to ground,
and either to fend off this floating ice by means of chains
secured across, or to build up the fissure with stone and ce-
ment, and so afford the cable within it undoubted security. I
have frequently seen these rotten trap dykes varying in width
from a few feet to several yards, traversing almost perpen-
dicularly the faces of lofty cliffs, and I consider these well
adapted for the shorn end of the cabl,p." A gentleman
who has just returned in the Fox informs us that at least
three fiords, exceedingly well adapted for the reception of
the cable, are said to exist on the South coast of Green-
land, one of them at a very short distance from
Cape Farewell. One of these was examined by the officers
of the Fox and found perfectly satisfactory. The very hur-
ried but sufficiently minute survey of Hamilton's Inlet made
during the expedition in the Bulldog has not, as we have
previously intimated, confirmed Col. Shaffner's opinion of
its fitness to receive the cable. On this subject Sir L.
M'Clintock says in his report to the Admiralty :—" From
24th until 31st August was spent in an examination of the
inlet, which, although considerably narrower and with less
depth of water at its mouth than was expected, yet pene-
trates further into the interior. The distance from Indian
Harbour at its mouth to N.W. River at its head is 118
miles. All this inlet was rapidly explored, the main channel
for about half its entire length sounded, and the whole laid
down by Mr. Reed with sufficient accuracy for ordinary
purposes. But these soundings are not nearly sufficient for
the requirements of a cable, as we found the depths to be
very irregular, and seldom sufficient to secure a cable at the
bottom from icebergs." There can be little doubt that a
further survey on the coast of Labrador—which must, we
think, be undertaken next year—will discover equally good
accommodation for the cable there.

The late expedition; have, therefore, placed the practica-
bility of the proposed North Atlantic Telegraph almost be-
yond doubt or question. They have shown also that that
part of Col. Shaffner's original design which was least ap-
proved, viz., the carrying the cable across Greenland by
land, is not at all necessary. Four lengths of submarine
cable, touching the land at one station only in each country,
and neither of them much exceeding 700 miles in length,
will put us in complete connection with the shores of Ame-
rica.

Since his arrival home Dr. Wallich, the naturalist of the
expedition, has printed for private circulation an interesting
paper on the presence of animal life in the sea, and on the
nature of the sea-bed as bearing on submarine telegraphy.
As this paper was written during the late expedition, and
is to some extent a consequence of it, we propose to add
here a reference to it and a few extracts from it. We are the
more disposed to do this because, as Dr. Wallich observes,
our first clear glance at the floor of the ocean may be said to
bear date from the period at which telegraphic communica-
tion between the various countries of the globe was first
undertaken. " Our previous knowledge of its characters
was both limited and imperfect in kind ; for, although the
depth of the sea had been approximately ascertained over
widely extended areas, no attempt hadebeen made to inves-
tigate the material of which its bed is composed. It was
only during the last few years that the possibility of per-
fecting our information became recognised." Dr. Wallich,
after pointing out the uncertain and imperfect state of our
knowledge respecting the animal life which some have sup-
posed to flourish in deep seas, remarks that by the deplorable
fate of the telegraphic cable between Ireland and New-
foundland, that result has been accomplished which no
amount of indirect evidence could achieve ; for not onlyhas
it been ascertained (during the recent efforts to recover a
portion of the wire, that (as he thinks) minute animalforms
of the occurrence of which, even in comparatively speaking
shallow water, we had no conception, are able to effect a
lodgment within the insulating and protecting coverings of
the cable, but also that the existing methods of scrutinising
the sea .bed "are utterly inadequate for the requirements of
submarine telegraphy, however admirably adapted for
those of navigation."
" The gradual deterioration of various shorter telegraph
lines indicated," says Dr. Wallich, "the presence of dis-
turbing and destructive influences, of the nature of which
we remain more or less ignorant; whilst certain erroneous
statements have, on the other hand, been so authoritatively
put forth, that they commanded an almost unquestionable
belief. Amongst the more prominent of these may be men-
tioned the assertion that animal life cannot by any possibility
be maintained at a depth exceeding 500 fathoms ; that the
process of deep-sea deposit is so universal and constant
throughout its waters, that bare rock is rarely, if ever, to
be met with at depths beyond 100 or 150 fathoms ; and that
along the ocean floor no current ever sweeps so as to dis-
turb its state of perfect repose."
In the hope of being instrumental in throwing light on
these and collateral topics, he hailed the opportunity pre-
sented by the equipment of her Majesty's ship Bulldog for
the survey of the projected North Atlantic Telegraph route
as being singularly fitted to yield interesting results ; and
he states that the main object he had in view, namely, the
determination of the depths to which animal life extends in
the sea, together with the limits and conditions essential to
its maintenance, has been in a great measure accomplished,
for " not only may it now be accepted as clearly proved that
life exists at depths far exceeding those heretofore supposed
to circumscribe it, but, taking into consideration the high
organisation of the forms discovered, and how little they
seem fitted to carry on their complicated functions under
so enormous an amount of pressure as that to which they
are subject, we are Warranted in assuming that a large class
of creatures inhabit the deeper recesses of the sea, and that,
by the evidence thus brought to bear on the question of
oceanic deposits, our knowledge of the conditions under
which many fossil forms lived and perished may be mate-
rially augmented. The long-mooted question as to the
occurrence of certain species of Foraminifera* in a living
state at vast depths, has been solved in like manner."
" In the soundings taken during the cruise of the Bulldog
between the Faroe Islands and Ireland, Globigerinat was
met with in every instance in which bottom was brought
up from the deeper water unmixed with arming' material.
Between Iceland and Greenland they were abundant in a
few deposits about the central third of the channel. Be-
tween Greenland and Labrador they were almost entirely
absent. On the return voyage, however, between Cape
Farewell and Rockall, they were very plentifully found,
reaching their maximum development in long. 25 W., but
declining rapidly in numbers in the direction of Greenland."
But by far the most interesting discovery remains to be
noticed. In sounding not quite midway between Cape
Farewell and Rockall, in 1,260 fathoms, whilst the sound-
ing apparatus brought up an ample specimen of coarse
gritty looking matter, consisting of about 95 per cent, of
clean Globigerina shells, a number of starfishes, Dr. Wel-
Eel tells us, came up adhering to the lowest 50 fathoms of
the deep-sea line employed. This quantity of line had been
paid out in excess of the depth, which was determined by a
separate operation; and it must have rested on the bot-
tom for a few minutes, so as to admit of the starfishes at-
taching themselves to it. On reaching the surface, and
for upwards of a quarter of an hour afterwards, they con-
tinued to move about energetically. One very perfect
specimen, which had fixed itself close to the extreme end
of the line, and was still convulsively grasping it with its
long spinous arms, was secured in situ on the rope, and
" consigned to immortality in a bottle of spirits."
" Here, then," says Dr. Wallich, "is a fresh starting-
point in the natural history of the sea. At a depth of two
miles below the surface, where the pressure must amount
to at least a ton and a half on the square inch—where it is
difficult to believe that the most attenuated ray of light
can penetrate—we find a highly organised species of
radiate animal living, and evidently flourishing—its red
and light-pink-coloured tints as clear and brilliant as seen
in its congeners inhabiting the shallow waters where the
sun's rays penetrate freely. Arguing from preconceived
ideas, we should certainly not expect to find, in these
deep-sea starfishes, the same internal organisation as is to
be met with in shoal water forms, or that the circulating
fluid, no matter how simply composed, could traverse the
delicate membranes possessed by them. Unlike some of
the higher families of the Radiate, the Ophiocomas do not
boast of protrusile suckers and the complicated muscular
and vascular systems associated with such organs. But it
is nevertheless evident that (in defiance of the obstacles
enumerated) circulation of sea-water, if of no special fluid,
over the peritonial lining of their cavities, digestion, asst.,
milation, and reproduction are carried on unrestrictedly, in
addition to the somewhat simpler, but no :ass essential,
operations of locomotion and capture of f-..,cd.e
The starfish dissected by Dr. Wa
in no respect as regards interval nch was found to differ
land, namely,. gape Farewell,
from the nearest land of Green -
nearest
anatomy from the species
inhabiting shallow water,
which they were ob`
nearest pee: The distance of the position at
Farewell, is 600 miles. From the
a
250 me t of Iceland, namely, the Blinds Skier rocks,
-its. Dr. Wallich mentions this lest it should be
reTitsedolleasible that they could have been drifted by cur-
o :ra re by ainy othertose
whomea n sa
rfer onlno
t eithery eversed
d country,the
habits of the starfishe
For the
information h
essentially creep'
ming, but formed only to inev-
generally, it may be further stated
that they are
bottom of any kind. The weienz animals, never swim-
ikationg the surface of rock or
o their bodies and arms,
evencalcareous
raisinga matter, er,
themselves entirely
chiefly made up as they are of
precludes them from floating, or
off the bottom.
All former opinions as to the limits of life in the deep
sea must, as Dr. Wallich says, give place before such t t
ling facts as these. Hitherto living things have not
detected, simply because due measures have neither been
devised nor employed for their capture. In the present

* The Foraminifera are minute animals belonging to one
of the most simply organised families of the animal king.
dom, whose calcareous shells constitute a large per tentage
of the "oozy" deposit so constantly brought up by the
soundings in the Mid- Atlantic and elsewhere.—Dr. Wal-
lich.
t A genus of the Foraminifers,