2i8 Naturat, History Bui.i>etin. 



fathoms, or thirty feet, and claimed to be able to go a depth 

 of nine fathoms. We did not have an opportunity to test this 

 claim, much as we would have been interested in the trial. 

 Another Bahaman claimed to be able to dive fourteen fathoms, 

 but upon being" pressed for an explanation of this unheard-of 

 feat, confessed that he meant seven fathoms down and seven 

 up again! The next morning we tried to get awa}' by taking 

 the inland passage around Kgg Island, but again failed, being 

 forced to drop anchc)r near the condemned brig that is 

 allowed to obstruct the harbor entrance in a most unaccount- 

 able manner. Thinking to improve the time while waiting 

 for a favorable breeze, some of us went ashore to see if we 

 could dig a well and lill the.emptv water casks. One only 

 has to dig three or four feet to strike water here. It is rtue 

 that the v;ater will rise and fall with the tides, but some- 

 times it will be so little brackish as to be quite endurable 

 although not at all palatable. In one place we found that 

 two "wells'' had been dug only a few feet apart. Fresh 

 water could be drawn from one and salt water fi^om the 

 other. We had succeded in sinking an old barrel into the 

 good well, and had nearly lilled one of the. casks when we 

 saw the signal fl^•ing from the schooner, which meant that 

 all hands were wanted on board at once. On reaching the 

 vessel, we found that the pilot considered the wind favor- 

 able to get out of the harbor, and the captain decided to try 

 it without delay. 



The passage was a somewhat anxious one, as the jagged 

 black rocks on everv hand were anvthing but reassurmg, 

 especially as we had to beat our wa}- through the narrow 

 channel between the reefs and Eleuthera. The passage 

 through the reefs was off Ridley's Head. I'hilip, the pilot, 

 seemed to understand his business this time, and after an 

 hour's anxiety we found blue \vater once more under the 

 schooner's keel, and breathed a sigh of relief at getting out 

 without accident. The j^iilot was discharged, and thus we 

 parted with the last, but Iw no means the least, of oiu" good 

 Spanish Wells friends. 



