232 VOYAGE TO THE 



C vni P others bathed in it, or poured it over their heads ; 



s -«rvw but the absence of fresh water in the torrid zone 

 ia-26. cannot be compensated by such substitutes. Day 

 after day, those who were able extended their gourds 

 to heaven in supplication for rain, and repeated their 

 prayers, but in vain ; the fleecy cloud floating high 

 in the air indicated only an extension of their suffer- 

 ing: distress in its most aggravated form had at 

 length reached its height, and seventeen persons fell 

 victims to its horrors. 



The situation of those who remained may readily 

 be imagined, though their fate would never have 

 been known to us, had not Providence at this criti- 

 cal moment wrought a change in their favour. The 

 sky, which for some time had been perfectly serene, 

 assumed an aspect which at any other period would 

 have filled our sufferers with apprehension ; but, on 

 the present occasion, the tropical storm, as it ap- 

 proached, was hailed with thankfulness, and wel- 

 comed as their deliverer. All who were able came 

 upon the deck with blankets, gourds, and cocoa-nut 

 shells, and held them toward the black cloud, as 

 it approached, pouring down torrents of rain, of 

 which every drop was of incalculable value to the 

 sufferers ; they drank copiously and thankfully, and 

 filled every vessel with the precious element. Thus 

 recruited, hope revived; but the absence of food 

 again plunged them into the deepest despair. We 

 need not relate the dreadful alternative to which 

 they had recourse until several large sharks rose to 

 the surface and followed the canoe ; Tuwarri, by 

 breaking off the head of an iron scraper, formed it 

 into a hook, and succeeded in catching one of them, 

 which was instantly substituted for the revolting 

 banquet which had hitherto sustained life. 



