The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1899-09-05
has Sailed On The AlbatrOss for
The South Seas.
VESSEL WILL LIKELY CALL HIRE
Offsets and Aims of one OF the
Mos, Important sc,eptif,c
Expeditions.

SaN rnANSloSo, aug So nc
United States steamer Albatross sailed
for the South Pacific today with par
ty of scientists under the direction OF
Professor Agassiz. The expedition will
make exhaustive researches of the ISL
ands in the South Pacific, and it Is ex-
pected that much will be discovered
that is new and of great interest to the
scientific world. The voyage Is expect
ed to last at least six months, and at
it's conclusion Professor Agassiz will
give to the world the result of his ex-,
plorations in a volume published under
the direction of Harvard College.
On the evening before sailing Pro-
fessor Alexander Agassiz was the guest
of honor at the annual banquet of the
Harvard Club of San Francisco. The
banquet, which was held at down
town restaurant, was attended by some
sixty members OF the club, and proved
exceptionally enjoyable by reason of
the fact that the eminent scientist from
Cambridge was present and contributed
to the feast of wit and reason that fol-
lowed the coffee and cigars.
President Samuel Bigelow presided
over the gathering in the capacity or
toastmaster, and the guest of honor sat
on his right. The programme of toasts
opened with an address of welcome by
President Bigelow, to which Professor
Agassiz responded in cheerful vein.
The scientist spoke Of Harvard as
he first knew it forty years ago and as
it was today, and RECALLED the gathering
with some interesting "reminiscences
and tales that pleasantly recalled the
college days of the gray and bearded
members present. He also spoke Of the
plans and purposes Of the scientific ex-
petition on which he was to depart
in the United States steamer
Albatross. 1t was his desire, he said,
to explore thoroughly some of the
ocean depths Of the Pacific which were
left untouched by the Challenger ex-
petition, sent out by the British Gov
eminent few years ago. There Is
one hole on the other side Of the Paci-
fic over six miles in depth, and he de-
clared that it would be interesting to
ascertain something Of the sea life, II
there be any such, existing beneath
such a weight of water. He will be
absent on his exploring trip about six
months, and expects to publish the re-
suits of his observations and discov-
cries upon his return.
Horace Davis spoke of his personal
acQuaintanceship with the two Agas-
siz-the present Professor Alexander
and his distinguished father-and what
they had done for Harvard.
This large party of scientific men
propose to return to the United States
about May 10 Of next year. Their
course will take them 10000 miles
through a circuit of nearly every i'm
portant group of the smaller islands
which lie in the mid-Pacific Ocean be-
tween the Tropic of Capricorn and the
Tropic Of Cancer. At the head of the
scientific work Of the expedition will be
Professor Alexander Agassiz, whose
achievements in deep-sea exploration
in the past thirty years entitle him Il
the first place among the worlds in
vesugators Of submarine life and con
ditions.
Many reasons induce the members o.
the coming expedition to look for re
suits of the highest importance to sci
entific, popular and commercial knowl
edge. In the matter of paraphernalif
and equipment for collecting specimen!
and preserving them the AlbatrOss will
on this trip undoubtedly surpass any
vessel OF this kind ever before com
missioned for scientific purposes. Tn,
AlbatrOss Is a twin-screw steamer o
something more than 1000 tons dis
placement. She was constructed fol
the Fish Commission in 1882 at cos
OF 100000 and was the first vessel eve
specially designed for deep-sea explor
alton. Prior to the Spanish American
war. during which she was commits
stoned in the navy. the Albatross wa
generally conceded to be the best
equipped vessel in the world for sclen
tific purposes. She was returned I,
the Fish Commission In the early par
vi tniS year. SiHCe tueH sne HAS Deel
undergoing extensive repairs and i'm
prOvements. including the installation
OF new boilers, electric fans. etc. ant
the building OF an ice-making and cold
storage plant. Her two spacious Ia
boratOries have been remOdelled an,
additional facilities have been adde,
for the preservation OF specimens o
deep-sea life and OF marine and Ian,
plants and animals which will be col
lected on the voyage, Every effort ha
been made 10 equip the vessel thor
oughly for deep-sea dredging, trawlin
and sounding, surface and intermedl
ate towing, shore soinlng, land collect
ing and line and net fishing,
One feature of interest of the expe
dltion will be the use for the first tim
In deep'sea dredging of u deep-se
dredgs or trawl ~ any considerabl
size, Heretofore the largest trawl eve