“I say; doctor, air you mad?”
“I hope not.”
“Well, I begin to think you must be, for this is about the most unheard-of thing a man could do. You and this boy of yours have got to live.”
“Of course,” said my uncle.
“Well, what are you going to live on?”
“If I must explain, the stores contained in the cases you have of mine below.”
“Hah!” cried the captain; “well, that’s right, I suppose. But what about fresh water?”
“There is the cask, and a little tank belonging to the boat. They are both full, and we shall never be out of sight of land while on the coast. Afterwards we shall be journeying up the different rivers.”
“But when you’ve eaten all your stores, what then, doctor?”
“I hope we shall never be in that condition,” said my uncle, “for we shall husband our stores as reserves, and live as much as we can upon the fish we catch and the birds we shoot.”