rock and the yellow buoys which we had left. It was ten 

 thirty in the morning when they finally dropped anchor 

 in the reef harbor from which we had departed more than 

 two weeks before. 



Ed felt that dm"ing our previous visit we had made a 

 very thorough survey of the area from the surface of the 

 water, as well as investigating many hkely spots on the 

 bottom with the diving equipment and the metal detector. 

 This time he hoped to utilize the magnetometer by towing 

 it behind Reef Diver to seek out any metal remaining be- 

 neath the water. This instrument had proved a wonderful 

 aid in times past when it could be kept in adjustment, but 

 there was never any certainty that it would work. He also 

 planned to explore the bottom thoroughly with the help 

 of the Scott equipment. 



Ed was surprised to find that in the weeks since our 

 first trip, the general level of the ocean had receded, and 

 now at low tide many of the reefs were revealed slightly 

 above water. By this time the summer trade winds had also 

 appeared and blew every day at velocities of from twenty 

 to thirty-five knots. Even inside the reef harbor, the sea 

 was never calm, while outside it rolled in large waves and 

 broke with a great roar on the edges of the reefs. 



Time after time Ed put on his Scott and, with a full tank 

 of air, descended to the bottom, where he swam in a sys- 

 tematic pattern at the base of the reefs, hunting for any 

 sign of a sunken ship or of wreckage from it. Here, fifty 

 to eighty feet beneath the surface, he found a completely 

 different-looking Silver shoals. Viewing these coral cliffs 

 from their base, he was fascinated with the caves, tunnels 

 and mysterious openings which confronted him. He kept 

 the underwater metal detector nearby, and whenever there 

 was any question as to the possible presence of wreckage, 

 he subjected the spot to a careful going over. 



After days of systematic search, which covered the 



292 Sea Diver 



