52 CRUISE OF THE BARRERA 



Patron climbing the mast better to locate the 

 channel. Our course took us between the island 

 and outer reef through a passage of ten or twelve 

 feet depth, the bottom soft and weedy. The 

 freshening breeze from astern drove us along 

 "wing and wing" at about six knots, the sea 

 making up enough to cause anxiety on the part of 

 some who had not yet found their sea legs. At 

 7.45 P.M. we anchored near Hutia Light, under 

 shelter of a little sandy key. As this little islet 

 lies close within the coral patches we looked 

 forward eagerly to the morrow for our first 

 introduction to the actual reef. 



After dark we experimented with the submarine 

 light with most gratifying results. This is simply 

 an electric Hght bulb enclosed in a waterproof 

 globe and connected with a storage battery by a 

 heavily insulated cable. Lowering this light into 

 the water, a vast quantity of small marine life is 

 attracted to it which may easily be captured in 

 scoop nets of cheesecloth. Large fish will not 

 approach, but the smaller species, along with 

 myriads of small Crustacea, worms, larval forms 

 innumerable, small cephalopods — that host of 

 creatures referred to as "plankton" — simply 



