Toourdailyhalf—poundofbiscuitthecaptainhasthoughttoaddafewdropsofbrandy，andthestimulanthelpscon—
siderablytosustainourstrength。Ifwehadthesamepro—
visionsfortwomonths，orevenforone，theremightberoomforhope;butoursuppliesdiminishrapidly，andthetimeisfastapproachingwhenoffoodanddrinktherewillbenone。
Theseahadfurnisheduswithfoodonce，and，difficultasthetaskoffishinghadnowbecome，atallhazardstheattemptmustbemadeagain。Accordinglythecarpenterandtheboatswainsettoworkandmadelinesoutofsomeuntwistedhemp，towhichtheyfixedsomenailsthattheypulledoutoftheflooringoftheraft，andbentintopropershape。Theboatswainregardedhisdevicewithevidentsatisfaction。
\"Idon’tmeantosay，\"saidhetome，\"thatthesenailsarefirst—ratefish—hooks;but，onethingIdoknow，andthatis，withproperbaittheywillactaswellasthebest。Butthisbiscuitisnogoodatall。Letmebutjustgetholdofonefish，andIshallknowfastenoughhowtouseittocatchsomemore。\"