The
sailor stated that he had since his
boyhood been engaged in trading with a small vessel among some twenty
little islands in the Pacific.
He supplied the rough chart and explained that the lines from island to
island represented the only routes that he ever adopted.
He always started from island A at the beginning of the season, and
then visited every island once,
and once only, finishing up his tour at the starting-point A.
But he always put off his visit to C as long as possible, for trade
reasons that I need not enter into.
Discover his exact route, and this can be done with certainty.
Take your pencil and, starting at A, try to trace it out.
If you write down the islands in the order in which you visit
them—thus, for example, A, I, O, L, G, etc.—you can
at once see if you have visited an island twice or omitted
any.
Of course, the crossings of the lines must be ignored—that
is, you must continue your route direct, and you are not allowed to
switch off at a crossing and proceed in another direction.
The sailor knew the best route.
Can you find it?