swallow something that might act as an emetic. I asked Curtis for a
little of the lukewarm water. As the contents of the broken barrel were
now exhausted, the captain, in order to comply with my request, was
about to tap the other barrel, when Owen started suddenly to his knees,
and with a wild, unearthly shriek, exclaimed,--

"No! no! no! of that water I will not touch a drop."

I supposed he did not understand what we were going to do, and
endeavoured to explain; but all in vain; he persisted in refusing to
taste the water in the second barrel. I then tried to induce vomiting
by tickling his uvula, and he brought off some bluish secretion from his
stomach, the character of which confirmed our previous suspicions--that
he had been poisoned by oxide of copper. We now felt convinced that
any efforts on our part to save him would be of no avail. The vomiting,
however, had for the time relieved him, and he was able to speak.

Curtis and I both implored him to let us know what he had taken to bring
about consequences so serious. His reply fell upon us as a startling
blow.

The ill fated wretch had stolen several pints of water from the barrel
that had been untouched, and that water had poisoned him!

CHAPTER XLIII.

JANUARY 11th to 14th.--Owen's convulsions returned with increased
violence, and in the course of the night he expired in terrible agony.
His body was thrown overboard almost directly; it had decomposed so
rapidly that the flesh had not even consistency enough for any fragments
of it to be reserved for the boatswain to use to bait his lines. A
plague the man had been to us in his life; in his death he was now of no
service!

And now, perhaps, still more than ever, did the horror of our situation
stare us in the face. There was no doubt that the poisoned barrel had
at some time or other contained copperas; but what strange fatality had
converted it into a water-cask, or what fatality, stranger still, had
caused it to be brought on board the raft, was a problem that none could
solve. Little, however, did it matter now: the fact was evident; the
barrel was poisoned, and of water we had not a drop.

One and all, we fell into the gloomiest silence. We were too irritable
to bear the sound of each other's voices; and it did not require a
word, a mere look or gesture was enough, to provoke us to anger that was
little short of madness. How it was that we did not all become raving
maniacs, I cannot tell.

Th