message in a bottle.

Mr. Soares was strolling from St. George's to Ferry Reach when he stopped at Whalebone Bay.

"I thought we should go down to Whalebone Bay to look for a message in a bottle -- and, sure enough, I found one,'' he said.

"I have looked before but it is the first time I have ever found one. I was really surprised.'' The message was dropped from the tug Aries off South Carolina as part of Project Bottle Search. The ship was sailing between Charleston, South Carolina, and Freeport, Texas.

Mr. Soares, manager at Town and Country Carpets, said he intended to contact the Project at an address in Los Angeles.

SURPRISE FIND -- Mr. Allen Soares with the message he found in a bottle on Whalebone Bay.