"Don't give the dogs any water, William, nor any of the salt meat; give
them biscuit only."

"But they are very thirsty; may not I give them a little?"

"No: we shall want it all ourselves, in the first place; and, in the
next, I wish them to be thirsty. And, William, take my advice, and only
drink a small quantity of water at a time. The more you drink, the more
you want."

"Then I should not eat so much salt meat."

"Very true; the less you eat the better, unless we find water, and fill
our bottles again."

"But we have our axes, and can always cut down a cocoa-nut, and get the
milk from the young nuts."

"Very true; and fortunate it is that we have that to resort to; but
still we could not do very well on cocoa-nut milk alone, even if it
were to be procured all the year round. Now we will go on if you do not
feel tired."

"Not in the least; I am tired of seeing nothing but the stems of
cocoa-nut trees, and shall be glad when we are through the wood."

"Then the faster we walk the better," said Ready; "as far as I can
judge, we must be about half-way across now."

Ready and William recommenced their journey; and, after half-an-hour's