in a plane accident in Abyssinia we had to deplore not very long after 

 that, and Dr. Daniel Bouchet, the physician of our expedition. There 

 were with us also an engineer from the University of Brussels, Louis 

 Ockum, whose assistance was valuable to us for the adjustment of 

 certain pieces of apparatus, and for all sorts of repairs, and a photo- 

 grapher, Raphael Algoet, who was to develop the stills on board 

 and also some of the films that we intended to take. Lastly, the Belgian 

 Government sent us, as publicity officer attached to the expedition, 

 Henri Ghysels, who carried out the not always easy tasks with which 

 he was entrusted with a tact and delicacy that it gives me pleasure to 

 stress. It may seem excessive, looking back on it, to have four observers 

 with us, but if all the dives projected had been accomplished, each of 

 them would have been able to go down at least once. 



The cabin and instruments having arrived safely from Court-Saint- 

 Etienne and from Brussels, the bathyscaphe was set up in the work- 

 shops of the * Mercantile . . . . ' Then, by means of a powerful crane, 

 it was stowed in the large hold of the Scaldis^ which was entirely 

 reserved for us. In the free space round this hold we installed a 

 workshop where we were to work during the voyage. The plan was to 

 put in at Dunkirk, where the Scaldis would take on freight intended 

 for West Africa, the freight to be stowed in the unoccupied holds : 

 on the return trip it was to bring back colonial produce. 



On the 1 5 th September 1948 the Scaldis weighed anchor at Antwerp 

 and moved towards the Scheldt. She moved so slowly along the docks 

 of the port that our friends had time to reach the Kruisschans Lock by 

 car and wait for us there. We leant over the railings and waved fare- 

 well, while the Scaldis was let down to the lower level. So we set sail 

 for the open sea. 



The weather was threatening, with drizzling rain, and the ship 

 had to drop anchor near Flushing, not being able to risk a night passage 

 in a storm through the difficult channels which lead to the North Sea. 

 But when we reached the headland of Brittany, off Ushant, the weather 

 turned fine. The Bay of Biscay belied its reputation and all the way to 

 Dakar we were to enjoy magnificent weather. 



Now that we speak of it, why Dakar .^ What region had we then 

 chosen for our experiments } Several considerations dictated our choice. 

 We could not go too far from Europe, or our costs of transport would 

 have risen out of all proportion : we had to avoid localities where 



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