could maneuver out of tight situations; whereas Colum- 

 bus, in the same close quarters, would have had to cope 

 with unco-operative winds and square-rigged sails, giving 

 him little chance to run away from trouble. 



We had almost reached the outer barrier reef before 

 the fathometer began to register depths within its scope. 

 We altered our course at this point and glided slowly 

 along behind the outer reef, which foamed and broke 

 for miles. Somewhere among the scattered inner reefs to 

 our starboard must lie the remains of the Santa Maria, if 

 Morison's prognostications were correct. 



Ahead of us rose the lovely pavilion shape of Monte 

 Cristi and a whole chain of mountain peaks leading in- 

 land, while behind us was bold and beautiful Cap Haitien, 

 with the old city nestled at its base. To our south stretched 

 the low inner shore of the harbor, edged sometimes with 

 mangrove, sometimes with white sand beach, backed by 

 the fertile plains of the Vega Real, extending for miles to 

 the distant mountains. 



As we passed behind the barrier reef, the rolling 

 ocean swells diminished. I inspected with interest the 

 three reefs to our starboard, distinctly marked by the white 

 breakers which charged upon them. These were the reefs 

 we expected to search. It was high tide, and the brown 

 patches of coral were underwater except for a scattering 

 of knobby heads. Floating lengths of bamboo attached to 

 hemp lines marked the locations of fish traps placed by 

 the local fishermen. 



We continued to the end of the third reef before mak- 

 ing a wide circle to starboard, and then dropped anchor be- 

 hind the middle reef. Here we found the sea much quieter, 

 with two lines of coral between us and the ocean. The wind 

 was blowing more and more strongly from the northeast, 

 however, and we realized it would soon be too rough to 

 search in the vicinity of the reefs. 



178 Sea Diver 



