MERSA NASI 97 



full on, but as usual, the fish split the steel cable (we had replaced 

 the nylon cord with a thin steel cable) and carried ofT the arrow. 

 We are losing face. 



*In a small sea bay we observed a group of pelicans. They were 

 big-beUied and 'Derbyshire-necked'. They floated on the still 

 water like rubber ducks. Cecco and I left the boat for the water 

 with the idea of catching a pair by the legs. We approached them 

 indirectly. Suddenly a three foot shark appeared between us. We 

 bobbed up and then continued. Deep breaths and endless under- 

 water stretches. Eventually we saw the yellow webbed feet of the 

 pelicans, paddling elegantly down there in the water, the white 

 globes of their rears gently immersed. But just at that moment the 

 peHcans became suspicious, started shuffling around, flapping and 

 at last took off" with a roar like so many seaplanes. We were left 

 behind empty-handed. 



'At another point, about a hundred yards from our boat, we 

 noticed something white and motionless on the sea, which to-day 

 was like a marsh of still cloudy water, opaque blue. We went to 

 have a look. It was a puffer fish. He was inflated and spiky, 

 floating belly upwards as if stone dead. The tetrodont or puffer 

 fish can inflate itself in the same way as the diodont or porcupine 

 fish, when in danger; but while the latter inflates when in its 

 nest and becomes locked in by its spines, the puffer fish floats to 

 the surface and then tips over on its back, its stomach surface 

 stretching much more than its back. At the same time its small 

 but numerous spikes show up. We approached him in the boat, 

 and took him up with our hands. He began a funny, plaintive 

 pig-grunt and blew himself up more than ever. We got into the 

 water, put our gauntlets on and began playing water polo with 

 him — but gently, because we did not want to hurt him. Finally 

 we photographed him up and down and as we already had a 

 specimen we then left him in peace. As we left him behind we 

 could still see the little white balloon bobbing on the v/ater, with 

 his fine baronial stomach stretched for sun-bathing. What a 

 pleasant little chap he was. 



'In the afternoon I discovered a black-fin on the sea floor. I 

 chased it with a gun, but it escaped. Afterwards I found a curious 

 fish like a saxophone, an unknown species. Cecco guaranteed us 

 a good supper with a red bream weighing eight pounds. I met 

 two barracuda. They got away, they always get away. Groupers 

 everywhere, thousands of groupers. 



*We got back in the evening rather drunk. We had been away 

 eleven hours and had spent eight of these under water. The boat 



