1. "A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal, "Water, water; we die of thirst!" The answer from the
friendly vessel at once came back, "Cast down your bucket where you are." A second time the
signal, "Water, water, send us water!" ran up from the distressed vessel, and was answered, "Cast
down your bucket where you are." And a third and fourth signal for water was answered, "Cast
down your bucket where you are." The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the
injunction, cast down his bucket, ant it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of
the Amazon River. To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign
land or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern
white man, who is their next-door neighbor, I would say: "Cast down your bucket where you are"
- cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are
surrounded."
-Booker T. Washington, 1895
What did Washington mean at the end of the speech when he said, "Cast down your bucket
where you are?"