had on a
portion of one of these bearskins; and it added no little to the natural
ferocity of his countenance, which betook of the Upsaroka character. The
mouth extended nearly from ear to ear, the lips were thin, and seemed,
like some other portions of his frame, to be devoid of natural pliancy,
so that the ruling expression never varied under the influence of any
emotion whatever. This ruling expression may be conceived when it is
considered that the teeth were exceedingly long and protruding, and
never even partially covered, in any instance, by the lips. To pass this
man with a casual glance, one might imagine him to be convulsed with
laughter, but a second look would induce a shuddering acknowledgment,
that if such an expression were indicative of merriment, the merriment
must be that of a demon. Of this singular being many anecdotes were
prevalent among the seafaring men of Nantucket. These anecdotes went to
prove his prodigious strength when under excitement, and some of them
had given rise to a doubt of his sanity. But on board the Grampus, it
seems, he was regarded, at the time of the mutiny, with feelings more of
derision than of anything else. I have been thus particular in speaking
of Dirk Peters, because, ferocious as he appeared, he proved the main
instrument in preserving the life of Augustus, and because I shall
have frequent occasion to mention him hereafter in the course of my
narrative--a narrative, let me here say, which, in its latter portions,
will be found to include incidents of a nature so entirely out of the
range of human experience, and for this reason so far beyond the limits
of human credulity, that I proceed in utter hopelessness of obtaining
credence for all that I shall tell, yet confidently trusting in time
and progressing science to verify some of the most important and most
improbable of my statements.

After much indecision and two or three violent quarrels, it was
determined at last that all the prisoners (with the exception of
Augustus, whom Peters insisted in a jocular manner upon keeping as his
clerk) should be set adrift in one of the smallest whaleboats. The
mate went down into the cabin to see if Captain Barnard was still
living--for, it will be remembered, he was left below when the mutineers
came up. Presently the two made their appearance, the captain pale as
death, but somewhat recovered from the effects of his wound. He spoke
to the men in a voice hardly articulate, entr