of fire, so we had to prohibit smoking. I sent this decision by radio to 

 the Élie-Monnier^ and we opened the cock of the carbon dioxide: 

 the petrol from the bathyscaphe spurted out like a geyser. At this 

 moment the Elie-Monnier drew near; and its funnel sent out a 

 shower of sparks. My communiqué had not been transmitted in time. 

 Fortunately they heard our shouts and the dispatch- vessel moved away. 



Little by little the float was emptied : the FNRS 2 rose higher in the 

 water. We now tried to attach the hooks hanging from the cross- 

 beam to the hooks on the bathyscaphe, but all our efforts were vain : 

 the Scaldis and the FNRS 2 were rolling much too much. Fearing that 

 the sailors would be injured by the hooks, we had to give up this 

 operation and once more take the sailors on board. Their courage and 

 loyalty were admirable. The Scaldis set course for the Bay of Santa- 

 Clara from which the wind and the drift had carried us far : the water 

 would be calm there. Meanwhile the bathyscaphe battled desperately 

 with the waves. Its plates groaned all night long. At midnight I asked 

 the captain where we were. 



*We are still in the same place,' he said. 'We are only just holding 

 our own against the current.' 



We dared not go faster : the bathyscaphe would not have stood it. 

 At last, as the night wore on, the situation slowly improved. We 

 gained on the drift and the closer we got to the island, the less drift 

 there was. The waves grew less as well : and we moved faster. 



When dawn came we were in the bay: and there, without any 

 difficulty, the FNRS 2 was brought aboard the Scaldis. 



With feverish anxiety we opened the hatch. A first glance showed 

 us that there was very little water in the cabin, not enough, in any 

 case, to have caused the automatic pilot to unballast. There was there- 

 fore some ground for hope that the desired depth had been reached. 

 I slid first into the sphere and to my great joy I could announce a 

 depth of 759 fathoms. The difference of 11 fathoms between the 

 depth for which the contact pressure gauge was set and that marked 

 by the index of the recording pressure gauge was of no importance : 

 the automatic pilot had fulfilled its mission. 



Unquestionably then in twenty-nine minutes the bathyscaphe had 

 covered 15 18 fathoms, which represents a mean speed of 5 ft. per 

 second. It was clear that the unballasting had been too substantial: 

 the bathyscape must have risen to the surface at a speed of more than 

 6 ft. 6 in. per second. At this rate the critical velocity had been 



[64] 



