THEGREATREEF 285 



The Inaguan beamed in triumph. "Yoh wouldn' listen to 

 me," he caroled. "I tol yo." 



On deck my courage revived and I reminded him that, 

 after all, the shark behaved like a gentleman. There are, un- 

 doubtedly, a number of well-substantiated cases of shark at- 

 tack, but from my several experiences, the first at Sheep Cay 

 and later on the barrier reef near Mathewtown, and from the 

 discussions I have had with other divers, the possibilities of 

 sharks attacking a normally behaving man clad in a helmet 

 or full suit are somewhat remote. Most of the smaller sharks 

 are afraid of the strange figure of a diver and give him a 

 wide berth. 



After resting a while I went below again. This time I landed 

 on the edge of the canyon, teetered drunkenly, and then 

 swung out over the depths. Instead of swaying back to the 

 wall I decided to drop to the ocean floor and explore the 

 shadowy crags below. The valley turned out to be deeper 

 than I supposed and when I landed with a slight bump the 

 pressure was very perceptible. The surging flow of the cur- 

 rent, however, was largely stilled; apparently the influence of 

 the inrolling combers did not extend beyond thirty feet. It 

 was a great relief to be able to stand without danger of being 

 carried away, and although the pressure was uncomfortable 

 and the water much colder, I began to look about with in- 

 terest. 



The valley might well have belonged on Mars, or on the 

 rim of one of the craters of the moon. It was shrouded in 

 gloomy azure, purple shadows merged with the deep blacks 

 of underwater caverns in producing an other-world aspect. 

 I would have liked to have entered some of these caverns, 

 but try as I might I could not gather quite enough courage. 

 Several times I approached the mouth of one, tried to peer 

 inside and then edged back. The fact that there was nothing 



