ny things. But we land animals, as you no doubt know, are unable
to breathe under water. Have you any ideas that might help me?"

The Fidgit: "I think that for both your difficulties the best thing for
you to do would be to try and get hold of the Great Glass Sea Snail."

The Doctor: "Er--who, or what, is the Great Glass Sea Snail?"

The Fidgit: "He is an enormous salt-water snail, one of the winkle
family, but as large as a big house. He talks quite loudly--when he
speaks, but this is not often. He can go to any part of the ocean, at
all depths because he doesn't have to be afraid of any creature in the
sea. His shell is made of transparent mother-o'-pearl so that you can
see through it; but it's thick and strong. When he is out of his shell
and he carries it empty on his back, there is room in it for a wagon
and a pair of horses. He has been seen carrying his food in it when
traveling."

The Doctor: "I feel that that is just the creature I have been looking
for. He could take me and my assistant inside his shell and we could
explore the deepest depths in safety. Do you think you could get him for
me?"

The Fidgit: "Alas! no. I would willingly if I could; but he is hardly
ever seen by ordinary fish. He lives at the bottom of the Deep Hole, and
seldom comes out--And into the Deep Hole, the lower waters of which are
muddy, fishes such as we are afraid to go."

The Doctor: "Dear me! That's a terrible disappointment. Are there many
of this kind of snail in the sea?"

The Fidgit: "Oh no. He is the only one in existence, since his second
wife died long, long ago. He is the last of the Giant Shellfish. He
belongs to past ages when the whales were land-animals and all that.
They say he is over seventy thousand years old."

The Doctor: "Good Gracious, what wonderful things he could tell me! I do
wish I could meet him."

The Fidgit: "Were there any more questions you wished to ask me? This
water in your tank is getting quite warm and sickly. I'd like to be put
back into the sea as soon as you can spare me."

The Doctor: "Just one more thing: when Christopher Columbus crossed the
Atlantic in 1492, he threw overboard two copies of his diary sealed up
in barrels. One of them was never found. It must have sunk. I would like
to get it for my library. Do you happen to know where it is?"

The Fidgit: "Yes, I do. That too is in the Deep Hole. When the barrel
sank the currents drifted it northwards down what we call the Orino