# They took soundings

"They measured the depth of the sea water." They measured the depth of water by dropping a line with a weight tied to the end of it into the water.

# found twenty fathoms

"found 20 fathoms." A "fathom" is a unit of measurement for measuring the depth of water. One fathom is about two meters. Alternate translation: "found 40 meters" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-numbers]])

# found fifteen fathoms

"found 15 fathoms." A "fathom" is a unit of measurement for measuring the depth of water. One fathom is about two meters. Alternate translation: "found 30 meters" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-numbers]])