able, for his quick eyes picked up the shallow places long 

 before we had reached them. And many times his out- 

 stretched arm motioned us in careful detours about coral 

 heads and shallow sandbanks which we otherwise might 

 have hit. 



We were indeed fortunate in the respective abilities 

 and personalities of our crew. But it was not until we had 

 lived aboard ship with them for some time that we came 

 to appreciate how favored we were. The two men, so dif- 

 ferent in appearance and temperament, were soon fast 

 friends. This, in spite of the fact that after many weeks 

 they were still not always able to understand each other 

 — the broken English of the French-Canadian and the 

 heavy Conch accent of the colored Bahamian. 



Vital, with his quick Gallic wit, constantly twitted 

 the slower-minded Kemp, who nevertheless always man- 

 aged to hold his own in his good-natured way with a dig- 

 nified and often apt reply. 



We were entranced at the colorful interchange of 

 conversation which went on between them — comparisons 

 of winter in the bush with year-round summer on the 

 banks; of fishing in Canadian lakes and streams with deep- 

 water fishing and crawfishing in the Bahamas; of danger- 

 ous hurricanes which Kemp had experienced, and the 

 perils of blizzards which Vital had met while following 

 his trap hne, miles from civilization. They discussed their 

 respective Cathohc and Baptist faiths, marriage and chil- 

 dren, the technique of canoe construction as compared to 

 that of the sturdy Bahamian dinghy; and so on and on 

 and on. 



As there was only the one cabin on the deck of 

 Sea Diver, around which the whole life of shipboard cen- 

 tered, from navigating the ship in the pilot house to pre- 

 paring the meals and doing up the dishes in the galley; 



The Bahama Islands 129 



