TO DAVY JONES S LOCKER IIJ 



York Zoological Society and that of the Explorers' Club 

 to the bathysphere, and tied a very ancient squid wrapped 

 in cheesecloth just beneath the observation windows. 

 Dangling in front and just to one side was a cluster of 

 luminous hooks attractively baited. "With the searchlight 

 ready to turn on, I felt that I had contrived all the en- 

 ticements possible for luring deep-sea fish within my ob- 

 servational zone. 



Barton and I were screwed down and bolted in at ten 

 o'clock, and four minutes later touched water. The sur- 

 face was crossed with small wavelets, and three times 

 before we were completely submerged the distant Gladisfen 

 and the level horizon were etched clearly on the glass, 

 and as instantly erased by a green and white smother. We 

 sank slowly and I peered upward and watched the under 

 side of the surface rise above me. When the rush of silvery 

 bubble-smoke imprisoned beneath the sphere had passed, 

 the surface showed clear. From the point of view of a sub- 

 marine creature, I should by rights call it the floor of the 

 air, and not the ceiling of the water. Even when diving in 

 the helmet I am always conscious of the falsity of calling 

 the water wet when I am once immersed in it. Spray blows 

 in one's face and leaves it wet, but down below, the im- 

 prisoned air sailing upward, slips through one's fingers 

 like balloon pearls, dry, mobile beauty, leaving only a 

 pleasant sensation. 



And now I looked up at our vertical wake of thousands 



