''Le Talisman'' was a French Navy

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

built at Le Havre in 1862 which was used for geological, biological and hydrological exploration in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea at the end of the 19th century. It first served as a communications vessel (" aviso"), and was both sail and propeller driven. In 1883 it was fitted out for scientific work under the direction of Professor Alphonse Milne-Edwards, equipped with a dredging winch with a capacity of 20 tons, and fitted to carry seven scientists together with a laboratory. From June to August 1883, the Talisman carried out a research cruise in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

, on the coasts of Morocco, Senegal, the

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Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

and

the Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

and in the

Sargasso Sea The Sargasso Sea () is a region of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by four currents forming an ocean gyre. Unlike all other regions called seas, it has no land boundaries. It is distinguished from other parts of the Atlantic Ocean by its charac ...

, collecting considerable material via dredging, at depths of up to . Among the expedition scientists were: * Alphonse Milne-Edwards *

Henri Filhol Henri Filhol Henri Filhol (13 May 1843 – 28 April 1902) was a French medical doctor, malacologist and naturalist born in Toulouse. He was the son of Édouard Filhol (1814-1883), curator of the Muséum de Toulouse. After receiving his early e ...

* Leopold de Folin * Leon Valiant * Louis-Alexandre Vincent This cruise yielded finds from the deep sea and sea bottom such as the pelican eel, and the decapod, '' Ethusina talismani''. One most important find was the discovery of the viability of micro-organisms at depths of 5 km below the surface (and consequently living at enormous pressures). Brachiopods collected during the expeditions of 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883 on the ''Travailleur'' and the ''Talisman'' are held in the Fischer-Œhlert collection and at the Laval Science Museum.

Publications from the expeditions

include: * *
pp.134-138pp.147-151pp.161-164pp. 182-186pp. 198-202
* * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talisman 1862 ships Ships of France Ships built in France Research vessels Survey ships of the French Navy Avisos of the French Navy