io6 



Anyway, there I was right back at the starting-post again, and 

 now the Post Office very kindly suggested that I might try the 

 Chief of something or other. Yes, thank you, would they get him 

 for me, I didn't know his name or anything about him, and so I 

 went back to my thought-steeped pacing of the narrow bridge, 

 in and out of the wheelhouse. 



Soon after our arrival in Durban, before we heard of the 

 Coelacanth, we had arranged an exhibition of the head of the 

 Giant Parrot-fish and other related things on the Dunnottar Castle, 

 and notice of this had been featured in the press. My wife, who 

 had taken charge of this, was almost overwhelmed by the crowds 

 who came aboard, so that she could spare only occasional moments 

 to dash to the bridge and see if any hope had dawned, but my face 

 as I paced was enough each time. Eventually the Post Office tele- 

 phoned to say that they just could not find any trace of the Chief 

 they mentioned, and did not think it was any use going on. After 

 all, it was Christmas Day, and late at that. I thanked them very 

 much and the official suggested that they should try again in the 

 morning, to which I agreed. Christmas ! I wonder if I shall ever 

 regain any liking for that time ? 



Though I had little appetite for food and none for festivity, my 

 wife persuaded me to go down that evening to Christmas dinner 

 in the gaily bedecked saloon, where our steward welcomed me like 

 a lost friend after a long absence. The laden tables seemed to 

 belong to another world. I saw it all through a black cloud of 

 frustration and despair. Soup ? Yes, but as the first spoon came to 

 my lips, a petty officer from the bridge leant over my shoulder; 

 there was an urgent telephone call. Who ? Don't know, sir. I could 

 not afford not to go, and when our steward found my chair empty, 

 my soup untasted, he stared unbelievingly and said, 'What ! Gone 

 again ?' It was a quaint meal, if one may call it that, during which 

 I was called away four or five times, mainly the press. There were 

 millions to whom that wonderful range of rich and tasty dishes 

 would have been an unforgettable thrill, but I had no appetite and 

 found no pleasure in that gay scene. There were conventional 

 Christmas crackers, and people laughed and joked and put on 

 paper hats. Great Heaven ! and the Coelacanth was probably 

 putrefying. We got out at last, some friends had come, but my 

 mind was so distracted that I cannot recollect anything that was 



