33. How many people got lost in the mountains?

Alice and the Griffin had to wait several minutes before the Tortoise Quasi gathered his strength and could continue.

- You see,一began the Tortoise Quasi.
- I don't see anything!- the Griffin cut in.

The Tortoise Quasi did not respond, only grabbing his head with his front paws again. After remaining silent for some time, he spoke again:

- Let's say... Nine people got lost in the mountains. They only had enough food for five days. Can you imagine, just five days!

Having reached this point in his story, the Tortoise Quasi was so moved by the tragedy that he could not continue from the overflow of emotions.

- Well, that's enough, there, there! - the Griffin tried to comfort him, patting his back.

![](https://cdn.mathpix.com/cropped/2024_05_21_5afa4e43618f5800e92dg-052.jpg?height=1142&width=871&top_left_y=820&top_left_x=570)

- Can you imagine what will happen to them if they are not found! - the Tortoise Quasi sobbed. - But it happened (and this is the most beautiful part of the story!)... Yes, the most beautiful part of the story is that the next day the poor souls met another group of lost people in the mountains...
- What's so beautiful about that? - the Griffin asked.
- The most beautiful part is that the first group generously shared their supplies with the second - they divided the provisions equally among everyone, after which the food lasted for another three days.

How many people were in the second group?
33. How many people got lost in the mountains? Let's call one portion the amount of supplies one person consumes in a day. Initially, 9 people had 45 portions (a 5-day food supply). On the second day, they had only 36 portions left. On the same day, they met a second group, and the 36 remaining portions were enough for everyone for 3 days. Therefore, there should have been 12 people in total.

This means that the second group had 3 people.