46 WHO SHALL HAVE THIS? 
was agreed that each person should receive one 
twenty-fifth part of a pound of "bread for break- 
fast, and the same quantity for dinner, omitting 
the allowance for supper. 
The next day, they saw several noddies and 
other sea-fowl, a few of which they were so 
fortunate as to catch. One of the birds came 
so near the boat, that it was caught by the 
hand. There was no wish to cook the birds. 
Besides the difficulty of dressing them, the 
claims of hunger were too peremptory to 
wait for such a process. Bligh divided one of 
them, which was of the size of a small pigeon, 
into eighteen portions ; " and," said he, " by a 
well-known method at sea, 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 man, with his face towards the 
food, points to one of the portions, saying, Who 
shall have this f He is answered by the former, 
who names one of the party ; each person 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 Bligh, 
" 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 dis- 
