north of Hispaniola, on the Ambrosian banks. The admiral 

 was, of course, correct. 



Foohshly, many of the survivors attempted to carry 

 their valuables with them. Some of the rafts carried bars 

 of gold and silver instead of food and water. A few of the 

 makeshift craft eventually landed at various spots on the 

 north coast of Hispaniola. A later reckoning showed that, 

 of the 514 aboard, only 190 lived to tell the tale. The 

 others either went to their death in these very waters or 

 were lost on the open sea as they tried to make their es- 

 cape. 



When Ed and I finally went below, haunted v^dth 

 thoughts of that long-ago tragedy, the night was peaceful 

 enough. But before morning, the wind came up. The 

 breakers' gentle song on the reefs around us changed to a 

 threatening roar, and to our uneasy ears it sounded as if 

 Sea Diver were only a few feet from them. None of the 

 crew had slept very much, we learned later. Toward morn- 

 ing a thunderstorm added to our mental tortures. With 

 the change of wind that accompanied the storm. Sea Diver 

 swung around on her anchor, her chain jerking and tug- 

 ging at the coral heads which held her against her wiU. 



, We resolved never to stay overnight in that 

 hemmed-in prison again. We would find ourselves a good 

 anchorage outside upon tlie banks that very afternoon, we 

 hoped in the vicinity of that half moon where Captain 

 Phips had found secure anchorage nearly three hundred 

 years before. Then, Ed said, we would also fix ourselves 

 a permanent daytime mooring in the reef harbor, where 

 we planned to search, so that we would have a quick 

 means of picking up and freeing our anchor each day, re- 

 tiring to the relative safety of the open banks for the night. 



So that morning, while Jane and Barney searched the 



The Silver Shoals 261 



