lower than my head. When I reached the bottom, I could 

 not get my feet down; they seemed determined to go off 

 on an exploring trip of their own. Ed, seeing my pre- 

 dicament, surfaced and soon returned with extra weights, 

 which he put in my dungaree pockets. That helped some, 

 and I was able to put my feet on the bottom, but my ef- 

 forts at walking were very unsteady. 



I stood on the wliite-sand bottom twenty-five feet be- 

 low and looked around me. A beautiful sea garden 

 stretched out on every side, a world of waving sea grasses, 

 fantastic coral formations and lacy traceries of sea fans. 

 Here were cool caves from whose crevasses undulated the 

 feelers of giant crawfish; beneath the sheltering ledges lay 

 broken bits of coral and shells. 



Ed touched my arm and beckoned me to follow him. 

 He led me to a pit in the sandy bottom where lay a can- 

 non crusted with coral and covered with sea growth. 

 Scattered in the sand lay dozens of purple-tinged, porcu- 

 pine-like sea urchins, forming a protective ring around the 

 cannon. The spiny creatures frightened me, and I backed 

 away, lost my precarious balance and wavered helplessly 

 toward another pit, which was liberally dotted with more 

 sea urchins. 



It was only by a tremendous effort that I saved my- 

 self from tumbling among them. In my excitement I 

 gulped great quantities of air and then found myself 

 gasping for breath. The hose could not conduct air fast 

 enough to satisfy my urgent requirements. My heart 

 pounded. I felt stifled in the small confines of the face 

 mask. Then, my feet once more safely on the bottom, I 

 regained control of myself, and my breathing slowed to 

 the point where the air hose could take care of the situa- 

 tion again. 



I did not stay down long that day. After one more 

 survey of that underwater world and its wonders, I inched 



The Florida Keys 15 



