3 so 



I N A G U A 



The water turned from light blue to blue gray, gray, then 

 dark and finally somber opaque ebony. The shore which, up 

 to this time had been plainly visible, became a black line sug- 

 gested more than revealed by the loom of the stars. There 

 was no moon. That satellite would not appear for another 

 week; it was hidden on the other side of the earth. I turned and 

 contemplated the surface of the ocean. Its blackness was com- 

 plete. Once more the crawling at the pit of my stomach began. 

 I had come out beyond the breakers with the avowed inten- 

 tion of diving beneath the surface to see what was going on in 

 the ocean during the dark. Now that the accomplishment was 

 only waiting for my action, I hesitated. Even in full daylight 

 the undersea is a world in which man definitely does not be- 

 long. Then, when visibility is at its utmost, one is frequently 

 beset with a feeling of helplessness. How much more so at 

 night when one's eyes are completely useless, and when clear 

 vision is further complicated by the Hmited perception directly 

 in front of the helmet. 



In a last minute check-up, and to gain time to revive my 

 waning courage, I tested the fastenings of my underwater 

 flashlight. This was an ordinary searchlight encased in sheet 

 rubber with a lens cemented over the bulb, so arranged that by 

 feeling through the rubber I could turn it on and off. Satisfied 

 that it was in proper working order, and finding no further 

 excuses for delay, I issued some last minute instructions to my 

 black helper, and told him that regardless of what happened he 

 was to keep pumping steadily. Turning away, I poised on the 

 gunwale, stood still long enough to hear a rooster on shore 

 crow halfheartedly as though it knew it was hours too early, 

 felt a wave of perfume redolent of jasmine and lavender come 

 swirling off the beach in a breath of warm air, and then stepped 

 over the side into the depths. 



The cold water plunging over my head shocked me into 



