“Your uncle didn’t drown. We must find him,” said the Doctor. Then Dab-Dab came up to him again and whispered, “Ask the eagles to look for the man.” So the Doctor sent one of the swallows off to call some eagles. And in an hour the little bird came back with six eagles. And they stood on the rail of the ship, like soldiers. Gub-Gub was very scared of them. And the Doctor said to the eagles, “Please help us find a fisherman. He has red hair and the tattoo of an anchor on his arm. This boy is the man’s nephew.” Eagles do not talk very much. And they answered, “You may be sure that we will do everything for John Dolittle.” Then they flew off. When they came back, it was almost night. And the eagles said to the Doctor, “We have searched all the seas and all the countries and all the islands and all the cities and all the villages. But we couldn’t find the man anywhere.” Then the six great birds flew back to their homes in the mountains and the rocks.

“Well,” said Dab-Dab, “what are we going to do now? We MUST find the boy’s uncle.” Then Jip went to the Doctor and said, “Ask the boy to bring me something that belonged to his uncle, please.” So the boy took from his pocket a big red handkerchief and said, “This was my uncle’s.” As soon as the boy pulled it out, Jip shouted, “I’ll find his uncle for him in less than a week. Let us go upstairs and see which way the wind is blowing.” Then Jip went up to the front of the ship and smelt the wind. “It’s blowing from the North,” said the dog. Then he shut his eyes tight and sniffed hard with his mouth half-open. For a long time he said nothing. At last he said, “I can’t smell his uncle. We must wait until the wind changes to the South.” And the Doctor said, “Well, let’s go down to supper then. I’m quite hungry.” “So am I,” said Gub-Gub.