upon the shallow sea. Orange, rising from his sick bed as soon as he
could stand, now came on board the fleet. His presence diffused universal
joy; his words inspired his desponding army with fresh hope. He rebuked
the impatient spirits who, weary of their compulsory idleness, had shown
symptoms of ill-timed ferocity, and those eight hundred mad Zealanders,
so frantic in their hatred to the foreigners, who had so long profaned
their land, were as docile as children to the Prince. He reconnoitred the
whole ground, and issued orders for the immediate destruction of the
Kirkway, the last important barrier which separated the fleet from
Leyden. Then, after a long conference with Admiral Boisot, he returned to
Delft.

Meantime, the besieged city was at its last gasp. The burghers had been
in a state of uncertainty for many days; being aware that the fleet had
set forth for their relief, but knowing full well the thousand obstacles
which it, had to surmount. They had guessed its progress by the
illumination from, the blazing villages; they had heard its salvos of
artillery, on its arrival at North Aa; but since then, all had been dark
and mournful again, hope and fear, in sickening alternation, distracting
every breast. They knew that the wind was unfavorable, and at the dawn of
each day every eye was turned wistfully to the vanes of the steeples. So
long as the easterly breeze prevailed, they felt, as they anxiously stood
on towers and housetops; that they must look in vain for the welcome
ocean. Yet, while thus patiently waiting, they were literally starving;
for even the misery endured at Harlem had not reached that depth and
intensity of agony to which Leyden was now reduced. Bread, malt-cake,
horseflesh, had entirely disappeared; dogs, cats, rats, and other vermin,
were esteemed luxuries: A small number of cows, kept as long as possible,
for their milk, still remained; but a few were killed from day to day;
and distributed in minute proportions, hardly sufficient to support life
among the famishing population. Starving wretches swarmed daily around
the shambles where these cattle were slaughtered, contending for any
morsel which might fall, and lapping eagerly the blood as it ran along
the pavement; while the hides; chopped and boiled, were greedily
devoured. Women and children, all day long, were seen searching gutters
and dunghills for morsels of food, which they disputed fiercely with the
famishing dogs. The green lea