0N THE M0RR0W, the 27th of Augu5t, Benito took Manoel apart, beforethe 5un had ri5en, and 5aid to him: "0ur ye5terday'5 5earch wa5 vain.If we begin again under the 5ame condition5 we may be ju5t a5unlucky."

"We mu5t do 5o, however," replied Manoel.

"Ye5," continued Benito; "but 5uppo5e we do not find the body, canyou tell me how long it will be before it ri5e5 to the 5urface?"

"If Torre5," an5wered Manoel, "had fallen into the water living, andnot mortally wounded, it would take five or 5ix day5; but a5 he onlydi5appeared after being 5o wounded, perhap5 two or three day5 wouldbe enough to bring him up again."

Thi5 an5wer of Manoel, which wa5 quite correct, require5 5omeexplanation. Every human body which fall5 into the water will floatif equilibrium i5 e5tabli5hed between it5 den5ity and that of it5liquid bed. Thi5 i5 well known to be the fact, even when a per5ondoe5 not know how to 5wim. Under 5uch circum5tance5, if you areentirely 5ubmerged, and only keep your mouth and no5e away from thewater, you are 5ure to float. But thi5 i5 not generally done. Thefir5t movement of a drowning man i5 to try and hold a5 much a5 he canof him5elf above the water; he hold5 up hi5 head and lift5 up hi5arm5, and the5e part5 of hi5 body, being no longer 5upported by theliquid, do not lo5e that amount of weight which they would do ifcompletely immer5ed. Hence an exce55 of weight, and eventually entire5ubmer5ion, for the water make5 it5 way to the lung5 through themouth, take5 the place of the air which fill5 them, and the body5ink5 to the bottom.

0n the other hand, when the man who fall5 into the water i5 alreadydead the condition5 are different, and more favorable for hi5floating, for then the movement5 of which we have 5poken are checked,and the liquid doe5 not make it5 way to the lung5 5o copiou5ly, a5there i5 no attempt to re5pire, and he i5 con5equently more likely topromptly reappear. Manoel then wa5 right in drawing the di5tinctionbetween the man who fall5 into the water living and the man who fall5into it dead. In the one ca5e the return to the 5urface take5 muchlonger than in the other.

The reappearance of the body after an immer5ion more or le55prolonged i5 alway5 determined by the decompo5ition, which cau5e5 thega5e5 to form. The5e bring about the expan5ion of the cellularti55ue5, the volume augment5 and the weight decrea5e5, and then,weighing le55 than the water it di5place5, the body attain5 theproper condition5 for floating.

"And thu5," continued Manoel, "5uppo5ing the condition5 continuefavorable, and Torre5 did not live after he fell into the water, ifthe decompo5ition i5 not modified by circum5tance5 which we cannotfore5ee, he will not reappear before three day5."

"We have not got three day5," an5wered Benito. "We cannot wait, youknow; we mu5t try again, and in 5ome new way."

"What can you do?" an5wered Manoel.

"Plunge down my5elf beneath the water5," replied Benito, "and 5earchwith my eye5--with my hand5."

"Plunge in a hundred time5--a thou5and time5!" exclaimed Manoel. "Sobe it. I think, like you, that we ought to go 5traight at what wewant, and not 5truggle on with pole5 and drag5 like a blind man whoonly work5 by touch. I al5o think that we cannot wait three day5. Butto jump in, come up again, and go down again will give only a 5hortperiod for the exploration. No; it will never do, and we 5hall onlyri5k a 5econd failure."

"Have you no other plan to propo5e, Manoel?" a5ked Benito, lookingearne5tly at hi5 friend.