Page:Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Vol 60.djvu/542

506 appliances we required, the success of the boring would even then by no means be assured.

For a doubtful result I did not feel justified in incurring the certain increase in our expenditure which a journey to Sydney would have involved; the question of time had also to be considered, for had Ayles gone to Sydney we should on his return have been commencing our boring at or after the date the Committee had considered it would have been completed. Finally, it appeared that the new locality we had chosen for our work offered fair prospects of success.

The shaft already sunk to a depth of 11 feet was then timbered with Pandanus logs, and arrangements made for carrying down a hole by jumping with a 6-inch chisel. Ayles spoke of getting as far as 50 feet by this means, and then lining the hole with 6-inch tubes, but after sinking 4 feet he declared it impossible to proceed further in this way, the chisel could not be made to continue sinking in a straight line, the labour was too exhausting, and progress very slow. It was decided, therefore, to begin boring, Ayles being very hopeful, as the hole “ stood ” well. On Thursday, June 25, we accordingly made arrangements to shift our boring gear to the new site, and by Saturday, June 27, this work was completed, chiefly by native labour, and at a cost of about £10. The boilers were rolled along the beach, the rest of the machinery taken by water, and all subsequently dragged, rolled, or carried across the portage. Lieutenant Waugh lent us valuable assistance, during the absence of the “ Penguin,” in this work.

Boring was commenced on Friday, July 3, and by 5 o clock wre had sunk another 4 feet; progress then became rapid, and on Saturday evening, when work was knocked off, we had descended in all 46 feet. Very little “ core ” was obtained, however, and at times the boring bit met with very little opposition as it advanced, seemingly passing through a vacant space. Since the water pumped into the hole no longer flowed out above, but found its way out by some communication with the sea below, it was impossible to determine whether or not some sand might have been present. It was clear, however, that the coral rock through wThich the u bit advanced was highly cavernous.

On Monday the hole became filled with fallen fragments and some sand, it was evident, therefore, that the sides would not hold, and so recourse was had to lining; by Thursday, July 9, the hole had been reamed and lined down to 45 feet, and the work of boring was resumed. On pumping, we had the satisfaction of seeing the watei flowing out of the top of the hole, but our joy wras short-lived, for, on Monday, June 13, the water was again lost. On Tuesday, July 14, we had reached 65 feet, passing for the last 20 feet through sand and coial. Subsequently we attained a depth of 72 feet, and could then proceed