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midable pair at any time, and in earlier centuries would probably 

 have made history of their own. I looked hard at that schooner, 

 not suspecting that I should never see it again: for a bare two 

 weeks later they were caught in a cyclone and the boat was des- 

 troyed and sunk. Our plane did not escape by much. Did Coela- 

 canths bring destruction in their train? I remembered that 

 Goosen's trawler Aristea that had caught Latimeria was wrecked 

 and destroyed not long afterwards. 



I looked about me. Pamanzi is only a tiny island separated by a 

 narrow strait from Mayotte, which is much larger, mostly hills 

 and mountains. I saw canoes and lines and nets, and asked about 

 fish supply. Shoulders were shrugged, and screwed-up faces with 

 few words told their tale. Yes, there was fish, but not much, not 

 nearly enough; the natives were not very industrious fishermen, 

 they got some but were satisfied with very little. During the war 

 there had been plenty, hand-grenades and depth-charges did 

 better than lines, and sometimes brought up a whole shoal. 

 There was little fish close in, those who went out to the big reef 

 did better ; but often when they got in the fish was too far gone 

 for European taste. 



I told them how impressed I had been by the large reef I had 

 seen from the plane on our way in, and Hunt said he had done 

 some goggling there, and that he had never seen so many fish 

 anywhere, nor so many kinds; the reef was far richer than any 

 about Zanzibar, for example. I said that I was contemplating 

 returning to work on the fishes. 



The Governor was enthusiastic. I would be welcome ; he had no 

 children there; I could have half his house; they would be de- 

 lighted. I was touched by this offer, and I got the interpreter to 

 explain how overwhelmed I was at his generosity, but that we 

 could never dream of imposing so uncomfortable a situation on him, 

 as our lives were of course governed by the tides and we were up 

 and about and out at all hours. We had to live by ourselves; was 

 there any other house available ? Oh yes, that could be arranged ; 

 anything I wanted that was possible would be granted. I found out 

 about the rainfall, the winds, available food supplies, vehicles, 

 and boats. French waters were a big gap in our studies of the 

 fishes of the western Indian Ocean, and I made full use of this 

 opportunity to learn all I could for our work. 



