For a week they subsisted on gooneys, taro root,
cocoanuts and cocoanut milk, and a sea-turtle which Scraggs found
wandering on the beach. This suggested turtle eggs to Mr. Gibney,
and a change of diet resulted. Nevertheless, the unaccustomed
food, poorly cooked as it was, and the lack of water, told
cruelly on them, and their strength failed rapidly. Realizing
that in a few days he would not have the strength to climb
cocoanut trees, Mr. Gibney spent nearly half a day aloft and
threw down every cocoanut he could find, which was not a great
many. They had their sheath knives and consequently had little
fear from an attack by Tabu-Tabu and the king. These latter kept
well to the other side of the island and subsisted in much the
same manner as their white neighbours.
At the end of a week, all hands were troubled with indigestion
and McGuffey developed a low fever. They had lost much flesh and
were a white, haggard-looking trio. On the afternoon of the tenth
day on the island the sky clouded up and Mr. Gibney predicted a
williwaw. Captain Scraggs inquired feebly if it was good to eat.
That night it rained, and to the great joy of the marooned
mariners Mr.
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