40 I N A G U A 



About noon I reached the lagoon opposite Sheep Cay. The 

 cay lay about one half mile from shore and was separated by 

 a channel of shallow water about the color of emeralds. In the 

 hope that the islet might contain some types of lizards unlike 

 those on the mainland I decided to try and reach it by swim- 

 ming the portion that I could not wade. A4ost of the way the 

 water appeared to reach about to my armpits, the portion over 

 my head was not more than an eighth of a mile wide. The tide 

 was low; in about an hour the channel would be impassable. 

 Quickly I stripped and deposited my shirt and ducks on the 

 rocks to air and sun. I then loaded the chamber of the gun with 

 dust shot and with the thong of the grass basket tied it to my 

 hat to keep it out of the water. In the band I placed some 

 extra shot. 



The first quarter mile was easy; the bottom was composed 

 of fine hard sand and the water was so clear as to make it easily 

 visible. As I came closer I could see a long row of cocoanut 

 palms along one shore of the cay, the central portion appeared 

 to be covered with a large clump of vegetation covering a low 

 hill. The channel was wider than I expected. I eased into it, 

 striving with my toes to touch bottom. It was too deep. A 

 strong current was sweeping through, bearing to the west and 

 toward the coral reef on the outer edge of the cay. Holding 

 my head high I breast-stroked toward the palms. In the center 

 of the channel the bottom shoaled again and by stretching my 

 toes I could just keep my head out of the water. 



This gave me a chance to rest and like a submerged toe- 

 dancer I edged forward, fighting against the current to prevent 

 being swept toward the reef. I had just reached the outer rim 

 of the shoal and was preparing to swim again when a sudden 

 commotion to the left attracted my attention. There was a 

 loud splash and a large black tail fin rose above the water and 

 came down with a smack. The spray flew skywards and a mo- 



