BENEATH TROPIC SEAS 



and with a single turn dived into the top of one of 

 the sponges. Why they did this I could not then 

 tell. After a month of watching I learned, — as I 

 already knew why swifts similarly dive into our 

 earthly chimneys. 



Every sporadic trip showed what wonders 

 awaited us. The shallow little reef a few yards 

 away from the schooner looked rather barren 

 under the clear sunshine. Almost all life sheltered 

 from the heat and sun beneath the small corals 

 and sponges which have rooted too near shore to 

 develop fully. But a single trip by moonlight 

 showed great crayfish half a yard in length, creep- 

 ing about, and here and there sinister moray eels 

 twined and twisted through the seaweeds in their 

 search for unwary fish. 



The marine corps telephone on the naval wharf 

 rang sharply one day — an automatic phone such as 

 is usual in wild Haiti — and Flight Lieutenant 

 Boyden wished to speak to Dr. Beebe. The 

 immediate matter was the annual bombing, the 

 ultimate was rare fish. It was another of the 

 unexpected and surprising modes of help which 

 come to a visiting scientist in this island. The 

 time was seven-thirty the following morning, the 

 place Lamentin Bay — the Bay of Manatees — and 

 the number was twelve bombs dropped by six 

 airplanes. Each would contain one hundred and 

 sixty-five pounds of H.E. and the results might be 

 interesting to an ichthyologist as well as to the 

 observing Major of Aviation. 



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