Fog Is a Puzzlement 299 



fog near an airport in New England. His plane was of the 

 type that Herbie would have liked, a single-seater, last, 

 small, and dashing. But he was without instruments, and 

 when the vapor constantly thickened he could not land. Peo- 

 ple below heard him as he circled and vainly waited for a 

 hole that would let him down. What must have been his feel- 

 ings as the gauge marked a steadily decreasing supply of gas 

 until finally he must have realized that the fog was not going 

 to thin and he had no chance? How much anguish can a man 

 experience in two hours? Three times in my own life I have 

 faced sudden death and I can say there was no regret or fear 

 at the time because the crisis came so swiftly. But when the 

 end is delayed and yet certain, much horror can be packed 

 into that short period. 



Even for birds the air is a bad place in a fog. The records 

 bulge with stories of the terrific casualties suffered by winged 

 migrants. Lights attract and hold them so they circle con- 

 stantly until, like the airman, they crash. Bushels of small 

 birds have been found dead at the base of certain lighthouses. 

 So heavy has been the destruction that the government has 

 put landing racks on many lights to enable the birds to 

 perch and rest. 



I moved along as slowly as possible and with only light 

 and widely spaced paddle strokes. I followed the bank and 

 continued to watch the small visible area. It was like looking 

 through glasses which concentrated on one spot to the ex- 

 clusion of all others. To see one tiny section of the marsh was 

 quite different from viewing the whole as I usually did. And 

 I suspect that the freedom from any possibility of danger 

 due to the invisibility increased my pleasure. 



I have a friend who has met fog under entirely different 

 circumstances. He was a quartermaster on a vessel operating 

 between Seattle, Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands. His stories 

 manifested no liking for fog. He told of narrow waters, tre- 

 mendous tides, and twisting channels. He described the diffi- 



