It was no great matter; so I
submitted to my fate, and made a virtue of necessity.
Happily for me, the boat belonged to an American exceedingly fond of
fishing; and consequently it contained many necessaries which I had
before overlooked. Between the foremost thwart and the bow there was
half a barrel filled with ashes, some pieces of charcoal, and some
dried wood; under the stern-sheets was a small locker, in which I
discovered a frying-pan, a box with salt in it, a tin cup, some herbs
used instead of tea by the Californians, a pot of honey, and another
full of bear's grease. Fortunately, the jar of water was also on board
as well as my lines, with baits of red flannel and white cotton. I threw
them into the water, and prepared to smoke my cigarito. In these
countries no one is without his flint, steel, tinder, and tobacco.
Hours passed so. My fishing being successful, I lighted a fire, and soon
fried a few fine mackerel; but by-and-bye the sun reached its highest
position, and the scorching became so intolerable that I was obliged to
strip and spread my clothes, and even my shirt, upon the benches, to
obtain a shelter. By that time I had lost sight of land, and could only
perceive now and then some small black points, which were the summits of
the tall pines.
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