144 FROM MADEIRA TO THE BARRIER 



insufficient, and the husbanding of our supply had to be 

 enforced in future with authority. The dogs required 

 their daily ration, and they got it measured out to a 

 hair's-breadth. Our own consumption was limited to 

 what was strictly necessary; soups were banished from 

 the bill of fare, they used too much of the precious 

 fluid; washing in fresh water was forbidden. It must 

 not be supposed from this that we had no opportunity 

 of washing. We had a plentiful supply of soap, which 

 lathered just as well in salt water as in fresh, and was 

 thus capable of keeping ourselves and our clothes as 

 clean as before. If for a time we had felt a certain 

 anxiety about our water-supply, these fears were banished 

 comparatively quickly, as the reserve we had taken in 

 the long-boat on deck lasted an incredibly long time, 

 almost twice as long as we had dared to hope, and this 

 saved the situation, or very nearly so. If the worst 

 came to the worst, we should be obliged to call at one 

 of the numerous groups of islands that would lie in our 

 route later on. 



For over six weeks the dogs had now been chained 

 up in the places assigned to them when they came on 

 board. In the course of that time most of them had 

 become so tame and tractable that we thought we might 

 soon let them loose. This would be a welcome change 

 for them, and, what was more important, it would give 

 them an opportunity for exercise. To tell the truth, 

 we also expected some amusement from it ; there would 



