Tiny, bright-colored fish swam about my feet. A huge 

 pinkish-brown hog snapper hovered nearby. As I watched, 

 tliree large, beautiful, black-and-gold angelfish sailed ma- 

 jestically past, waving their fins in slow and perfect 

 rhythm, while just beyond, a single brilliant-blue angel- 

 fish shyly looked out from behind a pinnacle of coral rock 

 on the valley floor. 



This time, with the aid of the flippers, I was able to 

 swim about this strange undersea ravine, floating up the 

 steep sides of the coral rocks, peeping into eerie chasms and 

 then gliding down to examine a nearly buried cannon, 

 scarcely distinguishable under its disguise of coral. It was 

 then I saw the giant anchor of the sunken warship, coral- 

 covered and almost hidden under a jutting shelf of rock. 

 Its huge ring was large enough to swim through. The 

 shank, half buried in the coral, still revealed a section 

 longer than myself. It must have weighed more than a 

 ton. I hovered over it enthralled. 



For more than an hour I explored this lovely spot, 

 getting tremendous satisfaction out of playing fish. And 

 the fish didn't seem to mind at all this clumsy, strange- 

 looking creature from the world above. They swam about 

 me, snouting out food from the bottom, playing tag with 

 each other, completely obHvious of me. 



With startling suddenness the realization came to me. 

 I was no longer fearful of this strange environment. I was 

 at last at home on the bottom. 



26 Sea Diver 



