The gale continued blowing harder than ever, and had not the boat been built especially to encounter heavy seas, she would very soon have been swamped. It was only by careful steering, indeed, that this could be avoided, while the two boys took it by turns to bail out the water which occasionally came in over the gunwale in rather alarming quantities. Still they did not lose courage. They, however, grew very hungry, and began to look wistfully at the hamper of fish.
“I wish we had a stove of some sort, that we might cook some of these fish,” said David, holding up a mackerel. “I am getting fearfully ravenous.”
“Just scrape off the scales and take out the inside of one of them, and hand it to me,” answered Harry, who was steering. “I have seen seamen eat raw fish, and raw meat too, and the islanders in the South Seas I know do, so we must if we are not to starve.”
David prepared the fish as directed, during the intervals of bailing. Still he could not bring himself to eat any. Harry’s inside was more seasoned. A midshipman’s berth in those days did not allow of any squeamishness.
“Just pour a little water into the tin mug, it will help it down,” he said, after he had taken a few mouthfuls of the fish.
They had found a tin mug, with a jar of fresh water. They husbanded the water carefully, and David poured out very little, lest it should be jerked out of the mug as the boat was tossed about. Harry dipped the bits of fish into the water before eating them. It took away somewhat of the raw taste, he fancied. Still he very soon came to an end of his meal.
“I shall do better another time,” he observed, putting the remainder of the fish down by his side, and drinking up the water.
David sat for some time very silent, bailing out the water. At last he looked into the basket and took out a fish, which he began to scrape with his knife. He held it in one hand while he bailed with the other, then he scraped a little more, and finally cleaned the fish completely. He looked at it, his lips curled, as is often the case when a person is about to take nauseous physic. A pang came into his inside. He could stand the hunger no longer, and, putting the fish between his teeth, he began to gnaw away at a great rate. He far outdid Harry. When the water rose to the side of the boat, he dipped the fish into it. It added to the flavour, and made it more digestible. The boys were thankful that there was not much risk of their starving as long as the fish kept good and the water lasted. It was not food that would keep them in health for any length of time; yet it stopped the pangs of hunger, and that was a great thing. All this time they were looking out for some abatement in the gale, but not a break appeared in the mass of dark lead-coloured clouds which formed a canopy above their heads, reaching down to the horizon on every side.
“Whereabouts do you think we are?” asked David, after a long silence.
Harry thought for some time.