The Challenger scientists immediately fell upon the results of the trawling
and dredging, first with a stacked set of seives. When a trawl was
brought up to the deck, the contents were carefully washed through
the nested sieves. The mesh of the upper sieve was largest, while
the mesh of the lowest sieve was very small. For a bottom haul,
the upper sieve caught rocks and large animals, while the lower
sieves trapped progressively smaller creatures and bottom materials.
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No
more line was lost, and a good deal has been done by the Scientific
party, when the dredge is hauled up they stand round in their shirt
sleeves and commence overhauling the mud for fish etc., and as soon
as they get any, down they all go to dissect and pickle them in
glass jars. The sea bottom between Lisbon and here varied from 400
to 2,500 fathoms at which depth the dredge brought up mud &
shell-fish, one, a regular common Sheerness crab. The mud was analyzed
and some baked in the oven in bread tins, numbered, and put away
for the Museum when we return.
Joseph Matkin
HMS Challenger |
