ater enough to quench our thirst.'

"We got the blanket ready. The first cloud passed by, nearly saturating
the blanket. The men wrung it out into one of their hats, two or three
sucking at the corners. They seemed inclined to fight for the small
quantity they had obtained, but did not even offer to give me any. I
got no water, though the blanket was somewhat cleansed, not that I felt
inclined to be particular. In a few minutes another shower fell. Each
of us got an ample supply of water. My spirits rose in a way I could
not have expected. For some time I did not suffer from the pangs of
hunger; but they presently returned with greater force than before, and
I guessed how my companions were feeling. I encouraged them as well as
I was able. `God, in His mercy, has sent us water, and He may, I trust,
supply us with food.'

"Some of them stared at my remark, but others replied--

"`Yes, yes, perhaps to-morrow we shall have an ample breakfast.'

"Still I did not trust them completely, and endeavoured to keep awake
until they had all dropped off to sleep.

"Another heavy shower fell during the night, and I roused them up to
obtain a further supply of water. We filled all our hats, for we had
nothing else to put it in. The next day was but a repetition of the
former. The water we had obtained during the night was quickly
exhausted. My hopes of catching some fish appeared likely to be
disappointed. Twice a shark came near us, but the brute was too large
to give us a chance of catching it. It was far more likely to have
caught us had we made the attempt. We shouted to drive it off. At
last, smaller fish of some sort approached--albicores or bonitas. It
was extraordinary with what eager looks we eyed the creatures.

"While we were watching the fish, trying to devise some means of
snatching them, one of the men, who lay stretched on the raft apparently
asleep or in a state of stupor, suddenly sat up, uttering an exclamation
of delight. We turned our heads, and saw him eagerly gnawing at a
flying-fish; but he snarled and growled, eating eagerly all the time,
just as a dog does when a person attempts to take a bone from him. He
had managed to gulp down the larger portion before the others could
snatch the prize from him. The next moment he sank back, and never
spoke again. I saw no violence used, except the force they exerted to
take the fragments of the fish from his hands. It appeared to me as if
one