In Samuel Coleridge's poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," how did the Mariner relieve his thirst?

In Coleridge's epic poem, "The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner," the mariner and his shipmates have been without water for an extended period
of time. Their ship is "becalmed," meaning that without a breeze, they must sit on the
water, unable to move, and unable to take on new supplies. Of all the things they need,
they have no water.

When the mariner sights the sail of
another ship, he cannot speak.

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Through utter drought all dumb we
stood!

I bit my arm, I sucked the
blood,

And cried, A sail! A
sail!

The only way the
mariner can speak at all to draw the crew's attention to the sail on the horizon is to
bite himself on the arm and drink some of his own blood.