several "pebbles" in sight, with indications that more 

 might be buried under the coral. We all went overboard 

 once more, and spread out to cover as much bottom as 

 possible while gazing down from the surface. We found 

 more ballast. 



I also spotted a peculiar-shaped object, flat and ob- 

 long, with two curves along one edge like bites. When 

 Barney attempted to dive it up, it broke apart where it 

 was cemented to the rock, and he came up with only a 

 section, about eight inches long and five wide. It was 

 blackened metal, heavily corroded. He placed it in Wee 

 Diver and went back to his search. 



In the meantime Ed had set out to investigate an un- 

 usual coral formation which he had observed on the 

 sandy floor just inside the reef. It had the appearance 

 of part of a ship, with curving ribs sticking upright from 

 it toward the surface. We thought this might possibly 

 be what Korganoff had considered as the coral-encrusted 

 part of the galleon which Captain Phips had failed to 

 penetrate in his search for the remainder of the treasure. 



I watched Ed from the surface as he swam around the 

 coral structure, which certainly bore a haunting re- 

 semblance to part of the hull of an old ship. He scanned 

 it closely, then approached one of the protruding ribs and 

 gave it a sharp snap. As it broke, a fine powder of white 

 coral dissipated in the water around. Even from my dis- 

 tance I could see that the pure white of the inside of the 

 arm extended clear through. There was no decayed wood 

 here. He repeated the experiment on other extensions 

 with similar results. 



As I swam back to the reef where the rest of the party 

 was searching, I wondered how many years it had taken 

 this coral to develop and reach the surface. Would it be 

 possible in, say, forty years, for an object as large as a 

 whole section of a wrecked ship to become so encrusted 



The Silver Shoals 271 



