as we had done the previous morning, there was nothing left now to
quench our drought with.

"The men were so angry over it that they nearly came to blows, Magellan
and I having much difficulty in pacifying them; the more especially, as
some of them complained that if they had been allowed to have had their
fill before going to sleep, at all events the water would have done some
good then instead of being wasted, and they would besides not have been
so thirsty as they now were, while they also would have been able to
hold out longer till they got more.

"Of course this was absurd on their part, although very aggravating; so
to stop any more hard words and argufying in the matter, I suggested
that as there was nothing to be gained by our remaining any longer in
the vicinity of the bay where we had first come ashore, we had better
start off at once on our journey to Majunga while we were fresh in the
early morning, before the sun got high in the heavens to enervate us
with its scorching heat.

"This motion was carried, with one or two dissentients, and we
accordingly at once started off due south, as nearly as I could
calculate by the position of the sun and sea, making our way through the
stiff jungle up the side of the mountain that spurted right across our
course in that direction, the way getting steeper and steeper each step
that we took forwards, and the jungle thicker and more dense.

"Gracious goodness! what a climb that was! Up and up we struggled and
toiled, perspiring all the way and gasping with heat and thirst. We
tore all the skin off our arms and legs in forcing ourselves through the
prickly patches of jungle, and almost splintered our feet against the
rocks and gnarled roots of some of the trees, besides bruising our
bodies all over with the repeated falls we had; and, all the while, we
were suffering the most unmitigated pangs of hunger and thirst that
mortal man could experience when in full strength.

"To add, too, to the misery of the toilsome journey, we could hardly see
an inch before us, although the sun took right good care to blaze down
right immediately over our heads through the tops of the trees. We
could only tell we were ascending from the extra fatigue it entailed in
lifting our weary feet in stepping upwards; and although we climbed up
several trees that looked taller than the rest near, so that we might
better observe our whereabouts, when perchance we might discover some
welcome o