38 SUFFERINGS AND ESCAPES OF 
Who shall have this? it was distributed with 
the allowance of bread and water, for dinner, 
and eaten up, bones and all, with salt-water 
for sauce." The simple and impartial method 
alluded to is this : One man turns his back 
on the several portions of food. Another 
points to one of these portions, saying, Who 
shall have this? He is answered by the former, 
who names one of the party ; each having thus 
an equal chance of the best morsel. After they 
had shared this grand prize, several boobies 
flew near them in the evening, and they 
caught one of them. " This bird," says our 
narrator, " is as large as a duck. Like the 
noddy, it has received its name from seamen, 
for suffering itself to be caught on the masts 
and yards of ships." The sight of sea-birds 
indicated the neighbourhood of land. The 
weather was now dry and fine. But even 
this soon became distressing ; the heat of the 
sun was so intense, that many of the people 
were seized with a languor and faintness, 
which made them weary of life. 
On the morning of the 29th, breakers were 
discovered about a quarter of a mile distant ; 
they immediately hauled off, and were soon 
