by the waves, my son and I waited for a longboat to come and fetch 

 us. There was a heavy swell and it was difficult to get aboard the boat. 

 But at last we managed it and approached the Fenice. The question was 

 now how to grasp the ship's ladder and to jump on it without getting 

 our feet caught between it and the edge of the longboat. It was not 

 easy : the boat rolled in the waves, going up and down and in and out, 



striking the ship and then 

 swinging away. For my part 

 I found this crossing from 

 vessel to vessel much more 

 difficult and dangerous than a 

 dive down to 1732 fathoms in 

 the Trieste. 



Admiral Girosi and the 

 journalists greeted us enthusi- 

 astically and at once asked how 

 far down we had been. We 

 told them we had reached 1732 

 fathoms. 



From the entire world we 

 received congratulations upon 

 our record. However, that was 

 not what I was after: the fact 

 that the bathyscaphe had at 

 last shown what it could do 

 was enough for me. 



While we are speaking of 

 depth, may I be allowed to 

 mention certain details. The 

 precision recording gauge, in 

 agreement with the two index 

 gauges, indicated a maximum 

 pressure of 4620 lb. per sq. in. (see Figs. 13 and 14). In fresh water 

 at 39*2° F. this pressure corresponds to a depth of 1787 fathoms. How- 

 ever, sea water is denser. The small gauge indicated 4590 lb. per sq. in. 

 To determine the depth precisely, we must know, as well as the pressure, 

 the temperature of the water and its salinity at different depths and 

 be able to calculate its mean density: expressed in atmospheres, the 

 pressure multiplied by 5-66 and divided by the relative density would 



['32] 



Fig. 13. Record of the Ponza dive to 

 1732 fathoms (large pressure gauge). 

 To read off the time, subtract 12 from 

 the figures on the left 



