CRUISE OF 1938 



to keep one's footing (professional divers have heavy lead soles to their 

 shoes) , and often I found it necessary to v^rap my legs around a piece of 

 coral in order to hold my position with both hands free to manipulate the 

 camera. 



I W2LS fortunate in making color motion pictures. The sea gardens were 

 unusually striking in their variety and the fish plentiful. The color, though 

 not as accurately reproduced as in the atmosphere, adds enormously to the 

 effect of the pictures. 



We became increasingly interested in the wonders of marine life so lav- 

 ishly strewn under the sea and along the shore. On one occasion some of 

 us in the dinghy, looking for specimens through the water glass, came to 

 a mound of coral, the top of which projected above the surface at low tide. 

 Within its irregular cavities we spied a crawfish larger than had been seen 

 by any of us, including Malone, our native guide. For hours we tried every 

 device we could think of to get this monster out, but without success. We 

 could not determine his size, but one leg which had been pulled off by the 

 grains measured more than thirty-six inches. 



We were all ashore, searching the beach for shells, when hearing a call, 

 I saw Ann and Emily leaning over a pool and thrusting sticks into the 

 water. Joining them, I found that the surface, about two-thirds of it, was 

 covered with an unpleasant looking grayish scum. My first reaction was 

 that this was some foul decomposition product from garbage or offal, such 

 as might form in a cess-pool, and the first impulse was to call the investi- 

 gators away. Then I remembered that we were on a desert island, and 

 there was no possibility of such an accumulation. The substance was some- 

 what like parchment. It was firm enough to be pulled off the surface of 

 the water in large pieces. There was no unpleasant odor attached to it. 

 There did not appear to be any living things in the pool. This was a dis- 

 covery for which we had no explanation, and it caused much interest and 

 discussion. 



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