Our greatest deprivation was the short supply of water, for, as I said before, the unmitigated heat made our thirst at times very painful.
On the 15th we held high festival.

A shoal of fish, of the sparus tribe, swarmed round the raft, and although our tackle consisted merely of long cords baited with morsels of dried meat stuck upon bent nails, the fish were so voracious that in the course of a couple of days we had caught as many as weighed almost 200lbs., some of which were grilled, and others boiled in sea-water over a fire made on the fore part of the raft.

This marvelous haul was doubly welcome, inasmuch as it not only afforded us a change of diet, but enabled us to economize our stores; if only some rain had fallen at the same time we should have been more than satisfied.
Unfortunately the shoal of fish did not remain long in our vicinity.

On the 17th they all disappeared, and some sharks, not less than twelve or fifteen feet long, belonging to the species of spotted dog-fish, took their place.

These horrible creatures have black backs and fins, covered with white spots and stripes.