JANUARY 24.—I have inquired more than once of Curtis if he has the faintest idea to what quarter of the Atlantic we have drifted, and each time he has been unable to give me a decided¹ answer, though from his general observation of the direction of the wind and currents he imagines that we have been carried westward³, that is to say, toward the land.  
To-day the breeze has dropped entirely⁴, but the heavy swell⁵ is still upon the sea, and is an unquestionable sign that a tempest has been raging at no great distance. The raft labors⁶ hard against the waves, and Curtis, Falsten, and the boatswain, employ the little energy that remains⁷ to them in strengthening the joints⁸. Why do they give themselves such trouble? Why not let the few frail⁹ planks¹⁰ part asunder¹¹, and allow the ocean to terminate our miserable¹² existence? Certain it seems that our sufferings must have reached their utmost limit, and nothing could exceed the torture that we are enduring. The sky pours down upon us a heat like that of molten lead, and the sweat that saturates¹³ the tattered¹⁴ clothes that hang about our bodies goes far to aggravate¹⁵ the agonies of our thirst. No words of mine can describe this dire² distress¹⁶; these sufferings are beyond human estimate.
 
Even bathing, the only means of refreshment¹⁷ that we possessed¹⁸, has now become impossible, for ever since Jynxstrop's death the sharks have hung about the raft in shoals.
 
To-day I tried to gain a few drops of fresh water by evaporation¹⁹, but even with the exercise of the greatest patience, it was with the utmost difficulty that I obtained enough to moisten a little scrap²⁰ of linen²¹; and the only kettle that we had was so old and battered²², that it would not bear the fire, so that I was obliged to give up the attempt in despair.
 
Falsten is now almost exhausted²³, and if he survives us at all, it can only be for a few days. Whenever I raised my head I always failed to see him, but he was probably lying sheltered somewhere beneath the sails. Curtis was the only man who remained on his feet, but with indomitable pluck he continued to stand on the front of the raft, waiting, watching, hoping. To l............