GB-it.43-CaiE 
by night. It is a strange feeling to drop off the end of the ladder 
without being able to see the bottwii and the bottOE seems a lot 
farther off. Omr light threw a strong beam, but it ended a few feet 
away in a wooly blue haze, with inky darkness in every other direction. 
The person trying this for the first time is quite conscious of the 
darkness •“ at least I was, Tom was at ngr shoulder and has his own 
light, but he wasn't to use it unless it was necessary — not put too 
much strain on the battery up in the boat. 
We found the reef let after walking through the bright green grass. 
Things were quieter at night. Squirrel fishes appear to be worried by 
tlMf li^t — dorsals rest. There were no lobster feelers thrust out 
from beneath the big boulders. Probably all were out for the evening. 
About the first thing to catch ny eye was a small octopus on a rock. 
When I looked his way first he was brown, A few monents later when I 
looked again he was green. The next time I thought of him he had 
vanished. A great many six-inch lobsters were wandering about close 
to the reef rocks, their eyes like ^Iden sparks. And off in the distance 
were the big-eyes apparently all in a school. During the d^ they are 
close to the boulders, or back aisong them out of sight. Now ttey were 
drifting along three or four feet from the bottom, invisible except for 
their eyes shining like reflector buttons. 
There were no parrots to be seen. It had been my hope to find one 
mking a sleeping bag. But no. Perhaps I didn't look in the right 
places. But Tom saw none either. We laoved out again through the grass, 
shining our light up to the surface from time to time to the white boat 
