sides of the rocks so abrupt, with ragged chflFs and caves 

 between, that it would have been a most difficult place in 

 which to dive. 



Once, as we skirted a reef, I caught a glimpse of a 

 large shark passing directly beneath the boat. This was 

 the only shark any of us had seen the whole time we were 

 on the shoals, except the one Vital had caught the first 

 day. 



Toward noon we returned to Sea Diver, where Ed 

 was working on her ever-demanding machinery. We 

 found that he, too, was concerned about the weather. 

 None of us had any desire to be caught either at this an- 

 chorage in the center of the reefs or on the open banks 

 outside, should there indeed be a storm brewing. And the 

 look of the boilers which now sucked at the reefs all 

 around us was a constant warning that these Silver shoals 

 were no place to be caught in bad weather. 



We put Reef Diver aboard and ate our lunch. Then 

 Jane, Barney, Ed and I made one last pilgrimage to the 

 site of the wreck. This time we swam from Sea Diver 

 across the deep waters between, haunted by the thought 

 that the Spanish galleon must lie somewhere within our 

 range, and by our failure to find it. 



We reached the reef and swam about, once more 

 scanning the ballast and the spots which we had dyna- 

 mited, white patches of broken coral in the surrounding 

 magnificence. Schools of blue parrot fish paraded in bold 

 beauty from golden pinnacle to burgeoning staghorn. 

 Tiny jeweled creatures darted in and out of coral caves, 

 and far below, half concealed beneath a coral ledge, a 

 tremendous grouper with an ugly and ill-tempered face 

 viewed the world about him with a jaundiced eye. 



What joy to be part of this seabound, underwater 

 domain, to be allowed to share even a small part of it. 



286 Sea Diver 



