UNDER SEA WITH HELMET AND CAMERA 



from that time his record of service shows that he was second mate, first 

 mate, and Master, consecutively, of several fisheries boats working out of 

 New Jersey ports. He was employed by my brothers and me for the season 

 of 1908 on a jointly owned motor yacht of seventy-five feet length and 

 fourteen feet beam. We were very proud of this boat, for she was among 

 the first of the motor yachts to be turned out under the radical changes in 

 design that naval architects had begun to apply to that type of vessel. Our 

 new Captain was just as proud of the boat as we were but did not let us 

 know it. Captain Billsborough, a young man of thirty-two years, won our 

 respect at once because of his knowledge and self-confidence, along with 

 his courteous and unassuming manner. After the season was over, he be- 

 came first mate on U.S. Lightship Five Fathom Bank, which post he held 

 for three years. T. Coleman du Pont, knowing the Captain's ability, gave 

 him the position of Master on his steam yacht Tech, a position he held until 

 the end of December, 1930, including leave during the first World War to 

 take the position of third mate on an oil tanker carrying fuel overseas to 

 the Allies. He had eighteen pleasant years with a delightful family who 

 were interested in water fowl shooting, and racing speed boats. He came 

 back to me after twenty-four years and here we find him, Master of a frail 

 "summer" cruiser which had no right to be on the opposite side of the 

 Gulf Stream from that on which she w^as built. 



Aquila served me well in my second cruise among the Islands. I had a 

 party of five. We left Nassau early in April with Captain Billsborough, a 

 cook, and a native guide. I resolved not to disappoint Lydia, therefore 

 made our first objective the flamingo nesting-place on Andros. We passed 

 out of Nassau Harbor eastward, rounded East Point, and headed for South 

 Bight, Andros, S.W. x S.%S, a distance of fifty-two miles. The run took 

 about five hours; we did a little trolling, and even at cruising speed caught 

 several small Spanish Mackerel. At South Bight there is a settlement named 

 Golding Cay. An ofiicial known as the Commissioner lives here. We 



