INTRODUCTION xi 



numerable dangers besetting him on every side. 



With all our knowledge of the sea and its 

 life, with all the progress and advancement 

 we have made through modern science and in- 

 vestigation, many unsolved mysteries remain 

 and no one realises this more than the scientist 

 himself. It is not necessary to look to fiction 

 for entertaining stories of the sea, for the an- 

 nals of the shipping and the navies of the 

 world, the records of scientific expeditions and 

 the government reports are filled with unim- 

 peachable, truthful accounts of incidents and 

 happenings which are as mysterious as any 

 the wildest imagination could conjure up. 



For many years I spent my summers at va- 

 rious stations of the United States Fish Com- 

 mission or on the ships which were engaged 

 in deep sea exploration and research work in 

 the North Atlantic. There, in the impression- 

 able days of my youth, I was surrounded by 

 the greatest scientists engaged in the study of 

 marine life and ocean exploration. Such men 

 as Baird, Goode, Bean, Verrill, Smith, Jor- 

 dan, Morse, Hyatt, Rathbun, directed the 

 work and carried on their investigations and 



