, 1873-11-26

was oOuIluCu II luC- QlLCCbIOI VI tAAO OA0
lillian coast. The weather allowed a stay
of a day at the dangerous st. Paul rocks,
situated on the equator in mid-ocean, right
in the. track of all outward bound ships.
This barren spot, which consists of a group
Of small islets rising some so feet above
the sea, and occupying a space OF only
halt a dozen acres, was found to be
even more dangerous than formerly
supposed, in consequence of q strong cur
rent running past it to the wostward-that
is, dead to leeWard at the rate of three
miles an hour. A lighthouse is much
wanted, but although the English, Ameri-
can, and Australian trade are all deeply
interested in the matter, there is difficult
Iy about the expense Of establishing and
maintaining it. The rocks rise straight
from the deep water, so much so that there
was no anchorage, and the ship had to be
secured to the shore by a haw6er, Many
and many a passenger ship on her way to
Australia must have had a narrow escape
from being wrecked on these desolate
rocks, for a night, in consequence of the
low hiIlocks being covered with guano,
the isIets are not visible until a ship IS
very close. Luckily, there are small and
have very deep water near. 1t was In
tended to make a week stay at Fernando
de NOronhia, a Brazilian penal state, to
survey its rocky coasts and collect the
unknown fauna but the Governor, not
understanding the peculiar nature OF our
work, would not allow any examination to
be mad0 without permission OF his supe-
riors at Brazil. The dredging and traw-
ling operations, which have been conducted
with singular success, prove that the inha-
bitants of the deep waters care little tor any
geographical boundaries, Finding a''simi-
lar suitable temperature at the Equator or
the Poles, they spread themselves about
the whole bottom of the sea, the species
found here in the tropics being much the
sal as those found off the European
coasts and elsewhere. Near the surface
the case is altered. As temperature varies
so the fauna changes, A pretty discovery
has been made of a deep cold current, only
half a degree above the freezing point OF
fresh water, running to to the northward
along q Brazilian coast. This, with the
former temperature observations, prove
that the water at the bottom of the North
Atlantic is fed from the Antarctic Sea.
That question is settled, it is now more
than probable that the more open in the
North Pacific is also cooled by water COM
ing from the southwark. Except in this
cold current, which can be traced as far as
the West Indies, the deep water is always
the same temperature of IS degrees. DR..
Carpenters idea as to the cold water ris-
ing at the Equator is fully borne out by
our temperature observations below 100
tathOms it is actually colder at the Equator
than at any other place in the North At
lantic south of the English Channel, some
stations being nearly 20 degrees warmer.
This is caused by the warm surface water
being necessarily blown before both the
trade winds into the Caribbean Sea, and
from there circling round as the we'll
known Gulf Steam-the cold water from
the South Pole coming north and taking
Its place. There are various theories as
to the change we shall find in the South
Atlantic. The sounding obtained between
Africa and South America, a little north
the Equator, were nowhere greater than
2 900 fathoms. The extreme depths found
further north are, therefore, hollows. The
islands, St. Pauls, Las Rocas and
Fernando de NOronha are each isolated by
deep water, both from one another and
from the main land. St. Pauls rocks rise
from a larger base than the others, and this