Houma Ceres., 1856-10-25
PARISH OF TERREBONNE La SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 1856
SoundinEs from NowfouMd-
u4F s.s Al land to Ireland. ..-...-. d. ;.

Telegraphie Soundings from Nowfound-
gs,I e3 a land to ireland. .-o-..-, d. ;,
The London Illustrated News publishes
what appears to be an authenthic state
ment of the results of the late surveying
trip Of the U. S. steamer Arctic, from St.
Johns, Newfoundland, to Valentia Bay. in
Ireland, under the direction of Lieuts.
Bergman and Strain, of the U. S. Navy,
from which we obtain the following facts.
The expedition appears to have been
eminently successful, and the results OBJ.
tanned are highly satisfactory: s
The line which has been subjected TO
this examination, corresponds with an arc
Of the. great circle, the distance being
l.64O nautical, or 1000 statute miles.
The difference of longitude is AZ deg. "a
min.. and of latitude deg. 22min.; st.
Johns being in Al deg. SO min., and Va
lentia 81 deg. 55 min. Soundings were
taken at intervals of about 80 miles, and
at each sounding samples of the ocean bed
were taken. This was done by means Of
quills affixed to the bottom Of the sounding
apparatus, the. contents; Of which were
preserved, and on the arrival of the party
at Cork, were subjected to close micros.
copic examination, ,, Il is proved by this
exploration that for more than 1900 miles
of the distance, the bottom Of the ocean
presented an unbroken level, the, depth of
which below the surface is not stated.
The greatest depth Of the sounding was
2,070 fathoms, or two and third miles.
The whole distance free from rocks Of any
kind. The substance Of which the bed j.
formed is thus described: - fa..5 hi ha,nre-
=. |" Even the FIRST cursory glance of the
samples obtained. disclosed an abundance
Of the most fragile forms Of shells, either
Of recent or Of fossil in6,soria, SO delicate,
and yet 50 perfect, as to afford guarantee
of the entire absence of any current Or.
movement Of the water at these grea,
depths; thus confirming in the most salts.
factory manner the results of the previous
soncdings. Not single rock has been
met with, not a particle of gravel or sand
has been brought up, but it appears as if
nature had provided bed soft as snow
hank to use Maury's own words, for the
purpose Of receiving telegraphicI
cable. Lieut.. Bergman says that he is
that the lead. with the sounding
apparatus, has frequently buried itself ten
or fifteen feet deep in this soft material,
and he doubts not that the cable vii! like.
wise sink aud imbed itself in similar
taaAaer." !" sa4Hesa I'D s,n.s faE 3iS1 4
The process by which the soundings
were made is thus described: s-r
~" The. vessel being 'hoye to- and made
%. remain rs stationary as possible, the
lead is dropped into the water from a
pulley on the fore. e.yard arm, and carries
with It the line, which in its descent
rapidly unwinds from a large reel. The
descent, at first very rapid, gradually
diminishes in speed, in consequence, not
Of the enormously increased density Of the
water, as is usually supposed, but Of the
gradually increasing friction due to the
length Of line 10 be; drawn through the
water, This ,diminution Of speed at
depths has been accurately noted
by Lieut.. Berryman, and is remarkably
Uniform. The descent, in the deep sound.
ings nsnlly occupied .sbopt. three hours.
The, arrangement, Of the mechanism is
such that the moment the rod carrying the
quilts touches the bottom, the wires which
were previously supported by hooks. be-
come detached, and allow the escape Of
the lead while the .quills and the register,
which are attached to the rod, thus reliey-
ed Of its load, are more easily drawn up
again. Still the process Of raising, though
facilitated BY discarding the leaden weight
of 60 pounds to 100 pounds, would be
tedious and lab0rions for human hands
There is, therefore, = small steam engine
attached to the yeei, having two oscillat-
ing cylinders Whose piston rods work
direct upon = crank on the axle of the
reel, by this means the raising Of the ap-
paEatus occupies less time than its descent
Sill itis y slow process and, OCCASION
ally, from tho occurfence OF O. knot or
twist ipithe line, i has been! snapped at
tho pully, when nearly raised, and the
whole labor of The sounding, together with
the ,apparaaus aud specimens, haze been
lost" gass rsz hsQ sssssl.oes It ~
@ An unfortunate tourist lately met
-..l lnal~.> hln e~rsdnnf nm Clan