t was no matter, in his anger, that his foot bled. He even stood,
while the deck was streaming, till we were also battened down into the
dark hold--the two companions remaining in irons above. As soon as we
were all settled below, in which there was not even proper accommodation
for us poor palantines, the female retired to one corner; and, seating
herself on the bare boards, leaned her head to the side of the vessel,
and wept bitterly. We were deeply affected by her situation and
distress; but had nothing in our power whereby to alleviate her sorrow,
save, indeed, our sympathy; and that we only gave in secret; for her
ladylike appearance, in a great measure, overawed us, and made us retire
from her. The greater part of us composed ourselves to sleep. Before
morning, it blew a dreadful gale, as we could perceive by the pitching
of the vessel and the noise of the rigging, which sounded fearfully in
our ears. All of us became very sick. The poor lady I thought would have
died; her weakness was extreme; and her suffering apparently beyond
any present remeid. Two days and nights we remained in this dreadful
situation, without a mouthful of food or a drop of water. Our sufferings
increased hourly, and were almost more than we could endure. We shouted
for help, or to be liberated from our noisome prison. Our cries were
either unheeded or drowned by the noise and tumult of the storm. I and
a few more had recovered from the sickness only to feel, in greater
horror, our painful situation. The heat of the hold was intense, and
aggravated our thirst tenfold. The air even became offensive; our
breathing a kind of painful spasm of the windpipe. We crept to the foot
of the ladder under the main hatch and, holding by it, sucked in some
fresh air. I had been here for some time, and felt my sufferings
alleviated; and the poor female's situation in the distant corner,
selfish as we had all become, moved us so much to pity, that two of us
agreed to relinquish our envied post, to ascertain whether she still
survived.

We found her extended upon the hard boards, to all appearance dead; I
placed my hand upon her heart, to ascertain if life was extinct. She
opened her eyes, and made a motion with her hand as if she wished me to
retire. Humanity forbade compliance; and, in the best manner we could,
we conveyed her to the foot of the ladder, where she gradually began to
recover and breathe more freely. This was now the third day of our
confinem