to create this widespread archipelago in the vastness of 

 the early sea. 



Skirting the outer shores of many of these islands and 

 fringing the edge of the banks, we found long necklaces of 

 dangerous coral which made the approach to the shores 

 they guarded a hazardous experience. In those days on 

 Blue Heron we took good care to maintain a safe distance 

 from their reaching talons. 



It was here in the Bahama islands, on the outer shores 

 of an island the Indians called Guanahani, that Christopher 

 Columbus first set foot on the soil of the New World and 

 made the acquaintance of the Lucayans who inhabited it. 

 Although we had discussed visiting this historic area many 

 times, it had somehow failed to become part of our itin- 

 erary. But at least it served to arouse our interest in the 

 early history of the Bahamas. 



We found that not many years after Columbus's first 

 visit, the islands had been stripped of their Indian inhabit- 

 ants by the Spanish settlers on nearby Hispaniola. In al- 

 most no time the captive Indians had disappeared from 

 existence, victims of forced labor in the Spanish mines or of 

 strange and terrible diseases brought from Europe by the 

 white man. 



For the next few centuries the Bahamas were inhab- 

 ited only by buccaneers and wreckers, for whom they 

 served as a remote and rewarding hideout. Close to the 

 outer edges of the archipelago these ruffians lay in wait to 

 pounce upon the heavily laden treasure ships that passed 

 or to salvage what they could from unfortunate vessels 

 carried up on the reefs. 



In the fastnesses of secret inner harbors a succession 

 of pirates hid their marauding craft, safe from the occa- 

 sional gunboat which might be sent in pursuit. Thus for 

 many years the Bahama islands existed under no proper 

 law, a refuge for runaway slaves, wreckers, pirates and 



106 Sea Diver 



