Miss Herbey was the first to follow my example, but soon Curtis, Falsten, and all the rest were on their knees and drinking eagerly, The rough sailors seemed as if by a magic touch transformed back from ravenous beasts to human beings, and I saw several of them raise their hands to heaven in silent gratitude, Andre and his father were the last to drink.
"But where are we ?" I asked at length.
"The land is there," said Curtis pointing towards the west.
We all stared at the captain as though he were mocking us; no land was in sight, and the raft, just as ever, was the centre of a watery waste.
Yet our senses had not deceived us the water we had been drinking was perfectly fresh.
"Yes," repeated the captain, "land is certainly there, not more than twenty miles to leeward." "What land ?" inquired the boatswain.
"South America," answered Curtis, "and near the Amazon; no other river has a current strong enough to freshen the ocean twenty miles from shore!".