1 88 A DESCENT INTO PERPETUAL NIGHT 



This ghastly din seemed of shorter duration than usual, 

 and soon after, a warning came through the telephone 

 and we were lifted and swung back and forth over the 

 deck. It has always struck me as rather amusing that as 

 a preliminary to descent we must always rise about twenty 

 feet toward the stratosphere. This part of the proceedings 

 provided an excellent panorama of the entire deck, and 

 the strained, anxious expressions on the upturned faces 

 made me regret that my own completely absorbed and 

 eager anticipation could not be the dominant emotion on 

 the Ready. 



Within a minute or two I was surprised to see the hu- 

 midity dial shoot across the record card, and I realized 

 that our new apparatus was working with swiftness and 

 accuracy. The chief reason for this abrupt approach to 

 saturation point was Mr. Barton, who was sitting, soaked 

 to his skin, on his side of the bathysphere. My canoe had 

 tipped over alongside and he had valiantly dived over- 

 board to right her and salvage the paddles just before we 

 crept inside. 



We swung up and overside and then down into the 

 water through a smother of foam and bubbles but with- 

 out the slightest jar. Instantly I forgot the dials and records, 

 for through the window appeared a dense mist of fry, ex- 

 citedly swimming about us. Although there must have 

 been something over a hundred degree angle between the 

 sun and my eyes, yet every individual fish made an occa- 



