Page:Polar Exploration - Bruce - 1911.djvu/175

Rh other observation that this Polar enthusiast could have taken at the North Pole, had his lead touched bottom, and had he brought back a sample of the deposit at the bottom of the sea at the Pole itself.

In the Antarctic Regions there has been a much more systematic bathymetrical survey, because, with the exception of Ross, practically no soundings were taken until the Challenger sounded in the vicinity of the Antarctic Circle off Termination Land. Before Ross, the early South Sea voyagers had no conception of deep-sea soundings. Weddell sounded in 71° 25′ S. "The water again being discoloured," says Weddell (A Voyage towards the South Pole, 1827), "we sounded with 240 fathoms of line, but got no bottom, though I am of opinion it would have been obtained at a greater length of line; but as we had no more, nor a lead sufficiently heavy, we could not be so experimental as I wished." According to the Scotia soundings there was a depth here of about 2,000 fathoms, and no doubt Weddell little guessed how much "greater length of line" he would have required to touch bottom. All the recent Antarctic expeditions have taken soundings in Antarctic and subantarctic seas, but by far the most important series taken are those of the Scotia. Altogether the Scotia took seventy-five deep soundings in the South