CHAPTER 



9 



CUNDABILU 



TWO days were enough to know everything about 

 Cundabilu. But they were unforgettable days, days 

 whose every minute remains indelible in our minds. On the 

 little island of Cundabilu we experienced for the first time 

 the thrill of the coral reef submerged at high tide and open 

 to all the winds, waves, currents, fish and animals of the 

 ocean. Dissei was the sentinel over a great gulf. Cundabilu 

 rose microscopically from the middle of the sea, the charming 

 little peak of an isolated mountain of coral. 



To the south, a long, blindingly white beach swept round 

 in an arc and slipped gently down into the sea. After a 

 hundred yards it reached a depth of nine or ten feet. Here 

 the coral unexpectedly barred the way and came out here 

 and there on the surface for about twenty yards, then sud- 

 denly, like a petrified forest on the edge of a ravine, it 

 plunged into the blue-green of a deep sandy floor. 



This was the zone of the greatest interest, particularly 

 towards the south-west, at the furthest point of the coral 

 barrier. On the opposite side, to the north, there was no 

 beach or barrier; a narrow flat platform plunged sharply 

 down into the dark shadows, the mere sight of which aroused 

 in us a certain apprehension. Heaven alone knew what 

 monster might lurk in that gloom. The waters on the north 

 side were populated almost exclusively by sharks (Gigi saw 



