that this was an anchor from the Santa Maria, we seemed 

 to be just as far from our objective. We still did not know 

 where the Santa Maria had gone down. We could only guess 

 that in the coral of one of the reefs in the harbor might lie 

 the ring and upper end of the anchor. If we could find that 

 spot, we might also find other indications of the Santa 

 Maria's last resting place. 



We had eliminated the possibihty that the Santa Maria 

 might actually have sunk on Le Grand Mouton because 

 of Columbus's statement that he was a league distant from 

 Punta Santa an hour before he struck the reef. 



Unfortunately, unless we could somehow find the re- 

 mains of the Santa Maria, we could never say positively, 

 "Here is an anchor from Columbus's flagship, first to visit 

 the New World and first to go to its grave upon the reefs 

 of Hispaniola." We could only say, "Here is an anchor that 

 may have come from the Santa Maria. It is of that era, of 

 the proper size, design and workmanship." 



In any case we had found one of the oldest anchors 

 ever discovered in the New World. Only the one in the 

 museum at Port-au-Prince could lay claim to being as old. 

 We were more curious than ever to see that historic anchor 

 and to compare it with our find. 



216 Sea Diver 



