flew over, we could see to the east the Straits of Gibraltar and its rock, 

 Morocco and the Atlas Mountains, and beyond the Mediterranean. 

 It all looked exactly as on the map. It is true, then! And yet the map 

 was drawn long before any human eye was able to see all these places 

 as a group. 



At Paris we changed planes, and at four o'clock in the afternoon we 

 arrived in Brussels. 



What is the verdict on our expedition to the Cape Verde Islands ? 

 There we had, without doubt, plenty of disappointments : but, and I 

 should like to emphasize this, the expedition was far from being a 

 failure. 



It is not the first time that a scientific experiment has had to be done 

 over and over again until it can take place in perfect conditions. And 

 what of technique ? What is the number of planes which have run 

 over the field without ever having been able to get into the air ? I still 

 remember the time when we lay down flat in order to make sure that 

 the wheels had left the ground : we were struck with admiration every 

 time we saw a few inches between the tyres and the ground. Is it then 

 serious that our first expedition did not have a spectacular success, 

 since it provided proof that the principle of the bathyscaphe was 

 correct? Henceforth, for this study we could call upon much greater 

 resources, financial and otherwise; resources such as one would not 

 have dared to risk for a first trial. Without the FNRS 2, neither the 

 FNRS J nor the Trieste would have been born. And if in 1953 and 

 1954 it was possible to dive successively to iioo, 1650 and 2200 

 fathoms, it is indeed to the FNRS 2 that it was due. 



The French officers of the Elie-Monnier, who so brilliantly and so 

 spontaneously collaborated in this expedition, immediately saw the 

 value of the bathyscaphe; and it is they who, by making strong 

 representations to the French Navy, which was hesitant, caused it to 

 decide to take it over. 



[66] 



