twenty-five fathoms long, and is marked at intervals in the following manner:—
At 2 fathoms with Leather with two ends.
3 " " Leather with three ends.
5 " " White calico.
7 " " Red bunting.
10 " " Leather with a hole in it.
13 " " Blue serge.
15 " " White calico.
17 " " Red bunting.
20 " " Strand with two knots in it.
These marks make it easy to distinguish the depth of water when sounding by day; and, at night, the leadsman can tell by the different feel of the materials used for the marks which one is passing through his hand. The intervening unmarked depths in fathoms are called the deeps; of these there are therefore eleven, as follows:—1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 19 fathoms.
In order to take soundings from a vessel which is under way, hold the line in the hand about six feet from the lead; swing the lead round to give it momentum, and throw it forward so that it falls in the water in front of the vessel. The advance of the vessel will bring the line almost perpendicularly over the lead; take in the slack of the line so soon as the absence of weight shows you that the lead has reached the bottom; and then the portion of the line on the surface of the water will indicate the
