ffered me a
small roasted fowl, about the size of a woodcock. I declined it, but
at the same time this delicate attention certainly surprised me.

I was now beginning to struggle with some success against my feelings
of abhorrence, when suddenly I caught sight of something which chased
away every other thought, and made my blood turn cold in my veins. It
was something outside. At the mouth of the cave--by the fire which was
still blazing bright, and lighting up the scene--I saw four men who
had just come to the cave: they were carrying something which I at
first supposed to be a sick or wounded companion. On reaching the fire
they put it down, and I saw, with a thrill of dismay, that their
burden was neither sick nor wounded, but dead, for the corpse lay
rigid as they had placed it. Then I saw the nightmare hag approach it
with a knife. An awful thought came to me--the crowning horror! The
thought soon proved to be but too well founded. The nightmare hag
began to cut, and in an instant had detached the arm of the corpse,
which she thrust among the coals in the very place where lately she
had cooked the fowl. Then she went back for more.

For a moment my brain reeled, and I gasped for breath. Then I rose and
staggered out, I know not how. No one tried to stop me, nor did anyone
follow me; and, for my part, I was ready to blow out the brains of the
first who dared to approach me. In this way I reached the open air,
and passed by the hag and the four men as they were busy at their
awful work. But at this point I was observed and followed. A number of
men and women came after me, jabbering their uncouth language and
gesticulating. I warned them off, angrily. They persisted, and though
none of them were armed, yet I saw that they were unwilling to have me
leave the cave, and I supposed that they would try to prevent me by
force.

The absence of Agnew made my position a difficult one. Had it not been
for this I would have burst through them and fled to the boat; but as
long as he was away I felt bound to wait; and though I longed to fly,
I could not for his sake. The boat seemed to be a haven of rest. I
longed to be in her once more, and drift away, even if it should be to
my death. Nature was here less terrible than man; and it seemed better
to drown in the waters, to perish amid rocks and whirlpools, than to
linger here amid such horrors as these. These people were not like
human beings. The vilest and lowest savages tha