isen! Not quite so suddenly; for it took me some time to run
my fingers all over the swelling outlines of that great vessel; to pass
them around its ends as far as the heavy boxes would permit; to go over
the ground again and again, inch by inch, and stave by stave, with all
the careful touch of one who is blind. Yes, it took me minutes to
accomplish this, and to become satisfied that the bung was not upon my
side of the cask--that it was either upon the top or the opposite side;
but, whether one or the other, it was beyond my reach, and it was
therefore as useless to me as if no such aperture existed.

In my search for the bung I had not forgotten the vent or tap-hole. I
knew that every cask is provided with both these apertures--that one
should be in the side and the other in the head or end. But my search
for the vent did not occupy two seconds of time. I at once perceived
that both ends of the barrel, with the exception of a few inches near
the edge, were completely blocked up--one by the box, and the opposite
one by the other cask, already mentioned--the latter of which appeared
to be a counterpart of that in front of me.

It occurred to me that this other cask might also contain water, and I
proceeded to make a "reconnaissance" of it; but I could only "grope" a
small portion of its end, and there I felt only the smooth hard heading
of oak, that resisted my touch like a wall of rock.

It was only after all this had been accomplished, that I began once more
to feel the misery of my situation--once more to resign myself to
despair. I was now tantalised even worse than ever. I could hear at
intervals the "jabbling" of the water within two inches of my lips, and
was unable to taste it! Oh! what I would have given for one drop upon
my tongue! one gill to moisten my throat, parched and burning like a
coal of fire!

If I had had an axe, with room to wield it, how I should have burst open
that huge cistern, and drank fiercely of its contents! But I had no
axe, no weapon of any kind; and without one the thick oaken staves were
as impenetrable to me as if they had been solid iron. Even had I
succeeded in reaching the bung or vent, how could I have got out the
stopper or vent-peg? With my fingers it would plainly have been
impracticable; though in the eagerness of my first hope I had never
thought of this difficulty.

I believe that I once more sat or staggered down, and after a little
while rose up again, and