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UNIFORM TEMPERATURE OF THE OCEAN.
[Chap. VIII.
1842
guins, although we were more than a thousand miles from the nearest land.
March 27.Favoured by westerly breezes and fine weather, we made good progress during the next few days, without anything occurring worthy of remark, and at noon the 27th were in latitude 59° 02′ S., and longitude 87° 21′ W. The magnetic dip had diminished to 67°.30 S., and the variation was 26° 28′ E., our distance from Cape Horn rather exceeding 600 miles. During a violent hail squall this morning some of the balls which fell measured nearly two inches in circumference. The Skua gull, stormy and gigantic petrel, a few sooty albatross, and a large company of bottle-nosed whales were seen during the day.
March 28.The weather being fine the next day, and the water smooth, we made some experiments on the temperature of the sea; those of the 23d having given a different result from what we had expected, and had found in other parts of the southern ocean. The thermometers employed were again compared with the standard, and, as the temperature of the sea and air was nearly the same, the observations were made altogether under still more favourable circumstances, and again the same anomalous result was obtained; for, at 600 fathoms, it was 40°; at 450 fathoms, 40°.5; at 300 fathoms, 40°.8; at 150 fathoms, 40°.8; at the surface, 42°; the air being at 40°: our position at this time was latitude 58° 55′ S., longitude 83° 16′ W. These experiments were repeated on the 29th and 30th with precisely