ither
from the Antilles or the Brazils, we cannot reckon at all upon such a
contingency happening in our favour; whilst if a calm should set in,
or worse still, if the wind were to blow from the east, not only two
months, but twice, nay, three times that length of time will be required
to accomplish the passage.

At best, however, our provisions, even though used with the greatest
care, will barely last three months. Curtis has called us into
consultation, and as the working of the raft does not require such
labour as to exhaust our physical strength, all have agreed to submit
to a regimen which, although it will suffice to keep us alive, will
certainly not fully satisfy the cravings of hunger and thirst.

As far as we can estimate, we have somewhere about 500 lbs. of meat and
about the same quantity of biscuit. To make this last for three months
we ought not to consume very much more than 5 lbs. a day of each, which,
when divided among eighteen people, will make the daily ration 5 oz. of
meat and 5 oz. of biscuit for each person. Of water we have certainly
not more than 200 gallons, but by reducing each person's allowance to
a pint a day, we hope to eke out that, too, over the space of three
months.

It is arranged that the food shall be distributed under the boatswain's
superintendence every morning at ten o'clock. Each person will then
receive his allowance of meat and biscuit, which may be eaten when and
how he pleases. The water will be given out twice a day--at ten in the
morning and six in the evening; but as the only drinking-vessels in our
possession are the tea-kettle and the old Irishman's tin pot, the water
has to be consumed immediately on distribution. As for the brandy,
of which there are only five gallons, it will be doled out with the
strictest limitation, and no one will be allowed to touch it except with
the captain's express permission.

I should not forget that there are two sources from which we may hope to
increase our store. First, any rain that may fall will add to our supply
of water, and two empty barrels have been placed ready to receive it;
secondly, we hope to do something in the way of fishing, and the sailors
have already begun to prepare some lines.

All have mutually agreed to abide by the rules that have been laid down,
for all are fully aware that by nothing but the most precise regimen can
we hope to avert the horrors of famine, and forewarned by the fate,
of many who in simila