Chapter Nineteen 

 MARCHAND DE BONHEUR 



BY the end of June 1953 the course of negotiations left Httle 

 doubt in my mind that the French would not grant me per- 

 mission to work on my own in their waters. Despite all I had 

 learnt at the Comores, it was disturbing that no further Coela- 

 canths had been caught although I was pleased to hear that the 

 French were apparently offering the same reward for Coelacanths 

 as I had paid, namely £100 each, to induce the native fishermen 

 to bring them in. I felt that more than this was necessary, and in 

 the absence of information about the precise measures being taken 

 by the French could not shed the responsibility of feeling that I 

 must go after Coelacanths myself, to make sure whether they really 

 lived in those parts or not. Had the arrangement with Stuttard 

 not broken down or if a suitable vessel had been available in time, 

 I should certainly have gone to work in the western Indian Ocean. 

 There were many places outside French territorial waters where 

 profitable work could be done. I should never be able to rest 

 until the home of the Coelacanth was surely found. 



My chief recollection of that tense and difficult middle half of 

 1953 is of the weight of the terrible responsibility that pressed 

 down on me. Not only was there this matter of the home of the 

 Coelacanth, but the possession of this Coelacanth was a terrible 

 responsibility. It was the only relatively complete specimen in 

 the world, it was the first virtually complete specimen ever to be 

 found, and for those reasons it should if possible be kept intact as 

 an historical relic. I had to consider the needs of the world of 

 science, but if others were found then this one could be kept 

 intact. On the other hand, if no other specimens were found I 

 could scarcely justify merely hoarding this one in that way. I was 

 torn between these two considerations, and the only clear solution 

 was to find another, more, as many as possible, and soon. Day and 

 night this worry clouded my brain and my life, and when all hope 



