r even more. I was completely baffled in any calculation that I
attempted.

I remained for a considerable time, pondering upon some scheme by which
I might determine the quantity of water that still remained in the cask,
for about this I was now most anxious. Only one hour before, food had
been the source of my uneasiness; before that it had been drink; and now
once more drink was my trouble, for of meat I had a plenty.

I remembered having heard that brewers, coopers, and others whose
business lies among the great wine vaults of the docks, had a way of
telling pretty nearly the contents of a barrel of liquid, without
submitting them to actual measurement, but I had not heard how they
managed the matter. I regretted not having been told.

I thought of a plan by which I could have ascertained, to a nicety; but
I lacked the proper instrument to put it in execution. I understood
enough of hydraulics to know that water will rise to its own level if
guided by a pipe or tube; I knew, therefore, that if I had only
possessed a piece of hose, I could have attached it to the tap-hole, and
thus discovered how high the water stood in the cask.

But where was the hose or other pipe to be had? Of course I could not
get at what I desired in this way, and I relinquished the idea without
giving it farther consideration.

Just at this moment a better plan suggested itself, and I proceeded to
put it in execution. It was so simple, I wondered I had not thought of
it before. It was neither more nor less than to cut another hole
through the staves, higher up, and if need be another, and so on, until
I reached a point where the water ceased to run. This would give me the
knowledge I wanted.

Should I make my first hole too low, I could easily stop it with a peg,
and so with all the others.

It is true that I was laying out for myself a considerable amount of
work, but I rather liked this than otherwise. While employed, I should
feel much happier, as my occupation would enable me the better to pass
the time, and keep me from thinking too much of my miserable situation.

But just as I was about to commence my experiments on the butt, it
occurred to me that I had better try the other one--that which stood at
the end of my little chamber. Should this also prove to be a
water-cask, then I need be no longer uneasy, for surely two such great
vessels should contain enough to supply me during the longest voyage
that ever was made.