of prey: I reckoned them i6 in. long; the creature a lemon-yellow 

 colour and standing out against a blue-green background. At a depth 

 of 22 fathoms, then, the water lets in yellow light, and we admired the 

 beautiful anemone ; but drawn along on our course, we soon lost sight 

 of it. Finding nothing more that interested us, we told the surface that 

 we were going up. The electric current which held the iron pellets in 

 the tanks was cut, and the pellets escaped and fell on the bottom, 

 raising a large circular cloud. We seemed to be in a lift. We heard a 

 curious noise, and asked by telephone what it was. 



' You can hear the screws of the Tenace : it is coming near.' 



A few moments later the Trieste surfaced and the Tenace pumped 

 out the water from the shaft with compressed air. We could see the 

 level going down in the antechamber. When it was clear we opened 

 the door and went up to the deck. 



Some people were surprised that a bathyscaphe designed to go down 

 to 2^ miles should spend its time paddling in the shallows along the 

 coast where any amateur diver equipped with self-contained diving 

 equipment could easily dive. Naturally, ironic remarks were heard. 

 People forgot simply that as yet there was no handbook for the use of 

 bathyscaphe pilots, and that, in spite of our theory, a number of parts 

 had yet to be tested before the submarine could fulfil the role expected 

 of it. On this occasion we certainly broke no records, but we became 

 used to steering the Trieste and we learned a good deal. We could also 

 have proceeded to the first trials in the open seas, but here we had 

 obtained the same results with less difficulty. The dockyards which had 

 built the bathyscaphe, and we ourselves, know now that our con- 

 fidence was justified. The members of the crew also had received 

 training in the various operations : transport of ballast, filling the lock, 

 radio, telephone, etc. 



As described above, the cabin was provided with two portholes: 

 one in front, which looks obliquely down on to the sea, and the other 

 behind, which looks towards the antechamber and its large window; 

 normally, we should thus be able to utilize the back porthole to observe 

 the sea across the antechamber. But the water which filled the ante- 

 chamber was so dirty that day that it was quite impossible to see any- 

 thing through it. Thereafter, before each dive, we had the lock and the 

 antechamber cleaned out. Moreover we arranged that the pumps on 

 the Tenace should run for a while till it was delivering clear water, 

 before filling the antechamber. Finally, a bucket and a brush were 



[III] 



