A MISTAKEN IDEA 
moments at the infinitesimal taste we got from the dis¬ 
carded shells. It was out of the question to climb up such 
a big tree or to cut it down, as we had no strength left. 
We went on until sunset, my men once more having 
lost heart. Brazilians lose heart very easily. At the sight 
of small hills before them, a steep descent, or a deep river 
to cross, they would lie down and say they wanted to 
remain there and die. Filippe and Benedicto did not 
carry more than twenty pounds each of my own baggage, 
but their hammocks weighed some twenty pounds each, 
so that their loads weighed altogether about forty pounds 
each. 
We went on, crossing five more streamlets that after¬ 
noon, of which one, two metres wide, had beautifully limpid 
water. We nevertheless continued, until eventually after 
sunset we had to camp near a stream of filthy water. We 
did not mind that so much, because, contrary to the popular 
idea that while you are starving you require a great deal 
of water, I found that during those days of starvation 
both my men and myself hardly ever touched water at 
all. Personally I am accustomed to drink only with my 
meals, and as I had no meals at all, I never had the 
slightest wish to drink. My men, however, who while 
on the river, for instance, when we had plenty of food, 
drank perhaps twenty times a day from the stream, now 
that they were starving seldom touched the water, and 
when they did, only in very small quantities. I do not 
suppose that my men, during the entire period of starva¬ 
tion, drank on an average more than a wineglass of water 
a day. Personally I know that I never drank more than 
half a tumbler or less in the twenty-four hours during 
that time. Under normal circumstances I drink about a 
quart of water a day. The water, I may say, was plen¬ 
tiful all the time, and, barring a few occasions, such as 
on that particular night, most excellent. 
As we had now been four entire days without eating 
267 
