This reminded me of the ascent of the stratospheric balloon on 

 i8th August 1932: my friend Tilgenkamp had carefully 'weighed' 

 us but, after a magnificent start, we had been held up, at a low altitude, 

 by an inversion layer. The warm air had decreased our buoyancy. It 

 was not till after we had thrown over quite a lot of ballast that the 

 balloon was able to continue its ascent into the stratosphere. 



This time it was the cold water that was to blame. Three courses of 

 action were open to us. We could wait for the petrol in the float to be 

 sufficiently cooled for the bathyscaphe to start going down again, but 

 that would take too long. We could open the control valve and let out 

 the petrol, but that would be a useless sacrifice of it. We chose the 

 third solution, namely, to go up again, take extra ballast on board, and 

 then go down once more. 



By telephone we told the surface : 



* Get ballast ready. We are coming up to get it.' 



My son turned the unballasting switch : the iron pellets poured out 

 in a dark trail from the orifice of the tanks, forming all around a great 

 cloud of rust. Soon we were on top and the usual operations took 

 place : then the Trieste was suitably laden. We dived slowly. Around 

 us the daylight decreased a little. We looked downwards — the bottom 

 became distinct, the water was clear. Even without artificial lighting, we 

 could distinguish all the details. But the sea here was particularly bare ; 

 all we could see was mud and here and there small mounds represent- 

 ing indefinable objects. In a state of equilibrium with the water, the 

 bathyscaphe drifted slowly along near the bottom : from time to time 

 it struck it gently, each time raising a cloud of mud. The drift con- 

 tinued. 



What ideal conditions for observation ! But of what use in such a 

 desert! Years ago the wind had brought a large palm tree here : there it 

 was, covered by mud, so that one could hardly guess at its shape. 



By telephone we announced : 



* All's well. We're at the bottom.' 



* What can you see } ' 



*Some sand — an empty shell . . .' 



What animal did it belong to } I was unable to say. If we had been in 

 fresh water I should have guessed at a Limnea ovata or a young 

 Limnea stagnalis (freshwater gastropods) but here I was out of my 

 element. At last we saw an object worthy of interest: we brushed 

 against a large sea-anemone. Its tentacles were waving gently in search 



[no] 



