40 WHO SHALL HAVE THIS? 
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 ? 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 Blign, 
"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- 
tressing ; 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 out 
of danger. At daylight they saw the reefs over 
which the sea broke furiously. Steering along 
the edge of it, an opening was observed, through 
which the boat passed. They were then in 
smooth water ; they tried to catch fish ; and all 
their past hardships seemed to be forgotten. It 
