138 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE CARNEGIE 



imagine the beauty and romance to be found under the waters 

 of a coral reef. And certainly only a poet could describe what 

 we saw in this fairyland of color and form. The dinghy is an- 

 chored at the selected spot, preferably in 15 to 30 feet of water, 

 and the observer climbs over the side with a heavy copper helmet 

 resting on his shoulders. A hose connected to a hand-pump in 

 the boat keeps him comfortably supplied with air, and he can 

 wander about at will on the bottom. 



One is in a new universe. Everything has a soft, ethereal 

 outline except for the fishes that come to within an inch of the 

 observers' nose to gaze at him in wonder through the plate-glass 

 window. They are the most brilliantly colored of living creatures. 

 One's sense of perspective seems to have been lost. Put out your 

 hand to brace yourself on a coral head, and you find it far out of 

 reach. Walking itself seems ridiculous; for in the water one's 

 buoyancy is so great that the slightest spring upwards on the 

 toes takes one off the bottom for a slow easy flight through space. 

 Gravity has ceased to exist. Captain Ault described what he 

 saw in a letter from which the following words are taken: 



"... schools of marvellously colored fish. . . forests of 

 submarine trees waving in the water-surges. . . baskets 

 of shell. . . jewel-cases of coral growth. . . grottoes of 

 blue and sapphire. . . trees of growing coral with 

 jewel tips. . . bristling, black-spined sea-urchins. . . a 

 basket made of cocoanut-palm leaves gathered together 

 at the top, perhaps full of treasure left by pirates. . . a 

 wonder-world not reproduced elsewhere, not even in an 

 aquarium." 



Specimens were collected by the observers. A long screw- 

 driver and a heavy brass bucket were lowered on a rope, and on 

 a signal from below the material was hauled up to the dinghy. 

 Although the coral sand did not promise to be very rich in dia- 

 toms, we secured several bottles full for forwarding to Washington. 



On Sundays and during the evenings we had time to make 

 excursions into the country by train or auto. The northern end 

 of the island is volcanic and offers quite a contrast to the region 

 around Bridgetown. A dinky little passenger-train pulls one 



