pletely enveloped and inaccessible. Surely, if this part 

 of the galleon had been there, Phips's divers would have 

 found a way to break into it. 



After Ed returned to the anchored boats on the reef, 

 he and Barney decided to take the metal detector below 

 and go over the spot where the scattered ballast stone had 

 been found. The instrument picked up indications of metal 

 in several places, but particularly around one large yellow 

 brain-coral formation. In spite of its size, the men reasoned 

 that the huge coral boulder must have grown over what- 

 ever metal lay beneath it, and that they would have 

 to dynamite it to discover what it concealed. 



Ed made a quick trip to Sea Diver with the little 

 boat and returned with the necessary explosives. He 

 wrapped the wire expertly around a stick of dynamite and 

 the detonator and was soon overboard with Barney to 

 plant it beneath the coral. As soon as they had surfaced 

 and climbed aboard Reef Diver, we moved the boat to a 

 safe distance. Ed took the cells from a flashlight and 

 touched the two ends of wire which led beneath the water 

 to the two terminals of the batteries. There was a sharp, 

 muflfled sound, and a vibration which jolted the bottom of 

 the boat. Seconds later the calm surface water boiled up 

 and outward in ever- widening circles in the vicinity of the 

 explosion. Soon after, the coral-roiled water was dotted 

 with the bodies of small, dark-blue parrot fish, edged with 

 a brighter blue, for the blast had caught a school as it 

 was passing by. 



A half hour later, when the underwater dust cloud 

 had settled, Barney went overboard to reconnoiter. He 

 came back to report that the explosion had shattered coral 

 for fifteen feet around. He had been unable to locate the 

 spot where the large brain coral had stood. He was a lit- 

 tle discouraged, for he said the bottom was now covered 



274 Sea Diver 



