give the exact depth in fathoms. Without these data, we had to be 

 satisfied with an approximation which gave 1732 fathoms. 



THE RETURN 



We could have gone back directly to Castellammare di Stabia, but 

 my son planned to make a dive at a lesser depth with Engineer de 

 Sanctis: he wanted to see if 

 the light from the projectors 

 was sufficient to make films. 

 We therefore asked Captain 

 Zanchi to take us to Ponza and 

 to have the Trieste towed there 

 by the Tenace. The mayor of 

 the island was aboard the 

 Fenice. He informed the citizens 

 of his island by radio of the 

 success of the dive, and invited 

 them to come to the port to 

 welcome us. The farewells that 

 the frigate gave us were a wit- 

 ness to the interest that Italy 

 has in scientific research. As is 

 well known, the salutes given 

 by ships of a navy correspond 

 with the rank of the persons 

 leaving the ship. At the moment 

 when my son and I approached 

 the gangway, the crew was 

 drawn up on deck: Admiral 

 Girosi said something to an 

 officer on board. The latter was surprised : 



* Those are the honours given to an admiral ! ' 



And I heard the answer : 



'Admirals of the abyss, they deserve it!' 



Thus then, saluted by six sharp whistles, it was that two Swiss land- 

 lubbers left the Fenice. The authorities of the island and the inhabitants 

 were celebrating: we reached our lodgings under a rain of flowers 

 thrown from the windows. The same evening we were invited to a 

 dinner by the municipality : crayfish occupied an honoured position on 



[ 133 ] 



Fig. 14. Record of the Ponza dive 

 (small pressure gauge) 



