Two sounding machines were installed, one an electrically-driven Kelvin apparatus for depths up to 300 fathoms. To obtain accurate soundings whilst the ship was under way, the sinker was fitted to carry sounding tubes, and had also an arrangement for indicating the nature of the bottom, whether rock, shingle or sand. For deep-sea work we had a Lucas steam-driven machine, which was affixed to a special platform on the port bow and supplied by a flexible tube from the steam pipe feeding the forward winch. This apparatus registered depths to four miles. Sounding with it was often difficult on account of the swell and the liveliness of the _Quest_, but the machine itself gave every satisfaction. The wire used with the Lucas machine was Brunton wire in coils of 6,000 fathoms, diameter .028, weight 12.3 lbs. per 1,000 fathoms, with a breaking strain of 200 lbs. The meteorological equipment included: Screens, containing wet and dry bulb thermometers, placed in exposed positions on the upper bridge. One large screen, containing hair hygrograph, standard thermometer and thermograph. (The heavy seas which broke over the ship and flung sprays over the upper bridge greatly interfered with the efficient working of these instruments by encrusting them with salt, and necessitated constant cleaning.) [Illustration: THE _QUEST_ AT HAY’S WHARF Where she was fitted out for the trip _Photo: Topical_] [Illustration: KERR (CHIEF ENGINEER) EXAMINING THE LUCAS DEEP-SEA SOUNDING MACHINE _Photo: Topical_] Hydrometers, for determining the specific gravity of sea-water, which gives a measure of the total salinity. Sea-thermometers, for determining the surface temperatures of the sea-water. Marine pattern mercury barometer. Aneroid barometers, checked daily from the mercury barometer, in case the latter should be broken. Barograph, to obtain continuous records of the air pressure. For upper-air work four cylinders of hydrogen and several hundred pilot balloons were taken. (These latter were sent up on many occasions from the ship, but the _Quest_ proved to be so lively that it was impossible to keep them in the field of view of a telescope or even of field-glasses.) All the instruments were very kindly lent to us by the Meteorological Section of the Air Ministry, and were of standard make and pattern. We carried a good set of sextants, theodolites, dip circles and other accurate surveying instruments. Several chronometers of different makes and patterns were placed aboard. Two of them, specially rated for us by Mr. Bagge, of the Waltham Watch Company, gave excellent results and, in spite of the violent motion of the ship and the difficulty of keeping a uniform temperature, maintained a remarkably even rating. The medical equipment was designed for compactness and all-round usefulness.