BARBADOS-ANTIGUA EXPEDITION 249 
This concession not only saved us considerable expense but 
also almost unlimited annoyance and vexation in making out 
bills of lading and in fulfilling the almost impossible require- 
ments attending the shipment of such a conglomerate assemb- 
lage of items as freight under the perplexing regulations of the 
War Trade Board at that time in force. 
As director of the expedition, the writer keenly felt the re- 
sponsibility of such an undertaking in war time and it was with 
a feeling of unspeakable thankfulness and relief that he realized 
that the scientific work had been completed, the collections and 
equipment were on board, and every member of the party in 
excellent health and enthusiastic over the success of the Barba- 
dos-Antigua Expedition. The responsibility of the voyage now 
rested with Providence and Captain Gladwin of the ‘‘Parima,”’ 
and thus a tremendous weight was removed from my shoulders 
and I was prepared to enjoy myself thoroughly as a passenger. 
Of course the U-boat menace had still to be met, but we were 
not greatly worried about that. The chances of disaster to any 
particular vessel were almost negligible when we considered 
the number lost as compared with the many hundreds that 
daily passed through the danger zone in safety. The fact that 
the vessel mounted a three-inch naval gun above the after 
deck and carried a couple of naval gunners added something in 
the way of safety; although it must be confessed that we had a 
feeling that in ease of actual attack from a submarine, many of 
which carried six-inch guns, the defense offered by the 
‘‘Parima’’ would be an actual element of danger, as it might 
not unreasonably serve as an excuse to sink without warning. 
Then, too, the fact that we were to be loaded with sugar and 
averaged not much more than nine knots an hour would make 
us an easy prey should we be sighted by an enemy. Although 
we realized all this, it must be said that there was little uneas- 
iness manifested by the members of the party, and we were 
too thankful to find ourselves homeward bound to worry very 
much about remote contingencies. 
We made St. Kitts late that afternoon, but our stay was too 
short for any one of us to go ashore, a fact which I regretted, 
especially as an officer came aboard with a courteous invitation 
from the administrator, Hon. Maj. Burton, to visit him at Gov- 
