24 DAHLAK 



down, following my companions who had come up for a 

 gulp of air and were returning at the run. The wall breathed; 

 thousands upon thousands of creatures circled, crawled and 

 slid in and out of holes, bursting forth and drawing back, 

 poking, gesticulating. The scene was as fascinating as it was 

 frenzied. The tiny coral barrier was alive with an incon- 

 ceivable multitude of minute iridescent fish playing hide- 

 and-seek; the whole water heaved up and down, swollen 

 with fish not only in shoals but alone and independent too, 

 each doing his own job, fending for himself, hunting for 

 food, for a mate, for a lodging and safety. I was awestruck. 

 I glued my face to the wall's undergrowth forgetting the 

 anxiety of a minute ago, all fear evaporating in the en- 

 thusiasm of the moment. 



We stayed there the whole afternoon, learning to look for 

 things and beginning to find them. I dragged my first 

 tropical moray into the boat (only a two-pounder) and found 

 my first *cowry' shell (known in Naples as a 'sea piglet'). I 

 love them and so I collected them; unfortunately Cecco 

 collected them too and they became a source of livid discord 

 between us. 



We had been immersed in the waters of the Red Sea. We 

 were now her initiates. 'Serve me well and I will be prodigal 

 to you.' And prodigal she was. 



