THE ISLES OF THE INDIES 9 



over the Chesapeake Bay. Nothing suited; all that we could 

 find were too old, too narrow, too flimsy, too large or small— 

 everything but what we wanted. Eventually, and unexpect- 

 edly, the search came to an end. In a small shipyard at Oxford, 

 Maryland, in process of construction was exactly what we de- 

 sired. Could we buy the vessel? We were told that we could 

 not, for the owner also had his dreams, but that we could have 

 one made like it. Within a month the contract was in the build- 

 er's hands. 



We had chosen a famous model. In fact, we had chosen one 

 of most famous boat models of all time. Our ship was to be an 

 exact repHca, except for the cabin and fittings, of the famous 

 Spray of Captain Joshua Slocum who, it will be remembered, 

 sailed the original around the world single-handed in the late 

 1 890's. He set a precedent in maritime history and proved be- 

 yond all question that open ocean sailing in small boats was 

 both practical and safe. All honor to him. As time proved, if 

 we had searched the world over we could not have selected a 

 better model. 



But this was only the beginning. There followed long months 

 of waiting— doubly weary for expeditionists anxious to be off 

 —long hours of planning and planning again, outlining our 

 scientific problems, working them out in the smallest detail. 

 The success of any expedition, great or small, depends largely 

 on the amount of beforehand planning— particularly so on an 

 expedition as hazardous as this one. There would be days, 

 weeks on end when we would be miles from the nearest settle- 

 ments; there would be times of storm, times of calm, terrain 

 of all sorts to work over and provide for; we had to be an en- 

 tity within ourselves. Most important, we had to be able to care 

 for our specimens and scientific materials when secured— all 

 this in the limited space of a thirty-eight foot sailing ship. 



There comes a time in the fife of every individual, at least 



