It was a female, and in excellent condition,
      being exceedingly fat, and having more than a quart of limpid and
      sweet water in its bag. This was indeed a treasure; and, falling
      on our knees with one accord, we returned fervent thanks to God
      for so seasonable a relief. We had great difficulty in getting the animal up through the
      opening, as its struggles were fierce and its strength
      prodigious. It was upon the point of making its escape from
      Peter’s grasp, and slipping back into the water, when Augustus,
      throwing a rope with a slipknot around its throat, held it up in
      this manner until I jumped into the hole by the side of Peters,
      and assisted him in lifting it out. The water we drew carefully from the bag into the jug; which, it
      will be remembered, had been brought up before from the cabin. Having done this, we broke off the neck of a bottle so as to
      form, with the cork, a kind of glass, holding not quite half a
      gill. We then each drank one of these measures full, and resolved
      to limit ourselves to this quantity per day as long as it should
      hold out. During the last two or three days, the weather having been dry
      and pleasant, the bedding we had obtained from the cabin, as well
      as our clothing, had become thoroughly dry, so that we passed
      this night (that of the twenty-third) in comparative comfort,
      enjoying a tranquil repose, after having supped plentifully on
      olives and ham, with a small allowance of the wine. Being afraid
      of losing some of our stores overboard during the night, in the
      event of a breeze springing up, we secured them as well as
      possible with cordage to the fragments of the windlass. Our
      tortoise, which we were anxious to preserve alive as long as we
      could, we threw on its back, and otherwise carefully fastened. CHAPTER 13


      July 24. This morning saw us wonderfully recruited in spirits and
      strength. Notwithstanding the perilous situation in which we were
      still placed, ignorant of our position, although certainly at a
      great distance from land, without more food than would last us
      for a fortnight even with great care, almost entirely without
      water, and floating about at the mercy of every wind and wave on
      the merest wreck in the world, still the infinitely more terrible
      distresses and dangers from which we had so lately and so
      providentially been delivered caused us to regard what we now
      endured as but little more than an ordinary evil—so strictly
      comparative is either good or ill.

      At sunrise we were preparing to renew our attempts at getting up
      something from the storeroom, when, a smart shower coming on,
      with some lightning, we turn our attention to the catching of
      water by means of the sheet we had used before for this purpose. We had no other means of collecting the rain than by holding the
      sheet spread out with one of the forechain-plates in the middle
      of it. The water, thus conducted to the centre, was drained
      through into our jug. We had nearly filled it in this manner,
      when, a heavy squall coming on from the northward, obliged us to
      desist, as the hulk began once more to roll so violently that we
      could no longer keep our feet. We now went forward, and, lashing
      ourselves securely to the remnant of the windlass as before,
      awaited the event with far more calmness than could have been
      anticipated or would have been imagined possible under the
      circumstances. At noon the wind had freshened into a two-reef
      breeze, and by night into a stiff gale, accompanied with a
      tremendously heavy swell. Experience having taught us, however,
      the best method of arranging our lashings, we weathered this
      dreary night in tolerable security, although thoroughly drenched
      at almost every instant by the sea, and in momentary dread of
      being washed off. Fortunately, the weather was so warm as to
      render the water rather grateful than otherwise. July 25. This morning the gale had diminished to a mere ten-knot
      breeze, and the sea had gone down with it so considerably that we
      were able to keep ourselves dry upon the deck. To our great
      grief, however, we found that two jars of our olives, as well as
      the whole of our ham, had been washed overboard, in spite of the
      careful manner in which they had been fastened. We determined not
      to kill the tortoise as yet, and contented ourselves for the
      present with a breakfast on a few of the olives, and a measure of
      water each, which latter we mixed half and half, with wine,
      finding great relief and strength from the mixture, without the
      distressing intoxication which had ensued upon drinking the port. The sea was still far too rough for the renewal of our efforts at
      getting up provision from the storeroom. Several articles, of no
      importance to us in our present situation, floated up through the
      opening during the day, and were immediately washed overboard. We
      also now observed that the hulk lay more along than ever, so that
      we could not stand an instant without lashing ourselves. On this
      account we passed a gloomy and uncomfortable day. At noon the sun
      appeared to be nearly vertical, and we had no doubt that we had
      been driven down by the long succession of northward and
      northwesterly winds into the near vicinity of the equator. Toward
      evening we saw several sharks, and were somewhat alarmed by the
      audacious manner in which an enormously large one approached us. At one time, a lurch throwing the deck very far beneath the
      water, the monster actually swam in upon us, floundering for some
      moments just over the companion-hatch, and striking Peters
      violently with his tail. A heavy sea at length hurled him
      overboard, much to our relief. In moderate weather we might have
      easily captured him. July 26. This morning, the wind having greatly abated, and the
      sea not being very rough, we determined to renew our exertions in
      the storeroom. After a great deal of hard labor during the whole
      day, we found that nothing further was to be expected from this
      quarter, the partitions of the room having been stove during the
      night, and its contents swept into the hold. This discovery, as
      may be supposed, filled us with despair. July 27. The sea nearly smooth, with a light wind, and still from
      the northward and westward. The sun coming out hotly in the
      afternoon, we occupied ourselves in drying our clothes.