THE CANOE was seaworthy, but our position, was not otherwise good.  We had provided ourselves with goat's meat wrapped in pieces of hide tied around our respective waists.  Golias still had his chunk, but I had lost mine in the scrimmage.  Carrying water had been out of the question.  We had had to chance it that the savages, who had presumably carried some sort of supplies on their trip to the island, had left some water aboard.  They had left very little.

From the moment I knew that my thirst began.  "How far away do you think those fellows live?" I asked, dipping my paddle to keep us from swinging side on to the waves.
"Probably not too far," Golias answered.  "The trouble is we don't want to go there.  I've had my fill of cannibals and don't want them to have their fill of us.  The only thing we can do is to head west and hope.  Luckily the wind's with us."

When we were worn out with paddling, there was nothing for it but to let the waves and the wind take the craft as they would.  In the light seas it floated like a cork and seldom shipped any water.  We took on only a little water ourselves, being able to afford only a sip at a time.

It was near sundown when we started.  Forty-eight hours later we had to face the fact that we had missed the peninsula and had a journey of indefinite length ahead of us.  Our water used up, thirst took complete charge of our bodies as well as our minds the day following.  The sun rose hot and screwed up the voltage by the minute.  It bleached us like raisins.  It starved us, too, for we were no longer able to swallow our meager rations.

It was well for us that our pelts had had a week of seasoning.  It was the only thing which saved us from bad burning.  Keeping wet helped some, though I grew nervous about scooping up water, wondering how long I could refrain from drinking it.  We also put out one of the lines we had found in the canoe but had no luck.  Golias explained that we might be able to eat raw fish, whose flesh would be moist.

That was about the last thing either of us said.  Moving our dry lips split them.  After a while I felt that my throat was closed.  We paddled some, but not often now.  Most of the time we looked out of eyes that were robbed of the needed moisture.  We looked for land, and looked for a ship, we looked for clouds, or even a lone one that would hold off the heat for a little.  We saw nothing but the sun and its glaring accomplice the sea.