the water had both disappeared! the locker
forward in which our last morsel of meat had been deposited on the
previous night was empty; the water-breaker was dry! some unscrupulous
villain, some vile, dastardly thief among us had stolen and consumed
both! The discovery of this detestable crime had the temporary effect
of a powerful restorative upon us; our furious indignation temporarily
imbued our bodies with new vigour; and in an instant every man of us was
upon his feet and glaring round, with eyes ablaze, upon his fellows, in
search of the criminal. In vain I strove to quell the excitement, to
stay the clamour, and to restore order; discipline and obedience indeed
were at an end, distinctions of rank no longer existed, the ordinary
restraints of civilisation were discarded, our frightful situation had
reduced us to the condition of wild beasts, and my entreaties that the
matter might be dealt with in something like judicial form might as well
have been urged upon the empty air.

There was not much difficulty in identifying the culprit. He was a
Welshman, named Evans, a poor, pitiful, sneaking creature, one of the
under-stewards belonging to the _Manilla_, who had systematically
shirked his share of the work, and done his best to evade his share of
the hardship from the very first; and although, when taxed with his
crime, he at first strenuously denied it, his manner belied his words,
and presently he flung himself upon his knees and--with tears and
protestations of his inability to resist the temptation that had
suddenly come upon him--acknowledged the theft, and abjectly besought
our forgiveness. I very much doubt whether, in my then frame of mind, I
could have been induced to forgive the miserable creature: but I
certainly had no desire to inflict any punishment upon him beyond what
he would derive from my undisguised expressions of contempt and
abhorrence. Not so his more immediate companions, however. Evans had
no sooner confessed than, with a hoarse howl of fury, his self-
constituted judges whipped out their sheath-knives, while in a paroxysm
of terror the wretched steward leapt to his feet and hastily retreated
forward, shrieking for mercy. The men followed him; and ere I could
intervene there was a scuffle, a rapid rain of blows, a smothered groan,
a splash alongside, and the next instant the Welshman's head reappeared
above water, about a fathom away from the boat, his face grey and
distorted with f