LXXVI.

He but requested to be bled to death:

The surgeon had his instruments, and bled (1) Pedrillo, and so gently ebb'd his breath,

You hardly could perceive when he was dead. He died as born, a Catholic in faith,

Like most in the belief in which they're bred, And first a little crucifix he kiss'd,

And then held out his jugular and wrist.

LXXVII.

The surgeon, as there was no other fee,
Had his first choice of morsels for his pains;
But being thirstiest at the moment, he

Preferr'd a draught from the fast-flowing veins : (2) Part was divided, part thrown in the sea,

And such things as the entrails and the brains Regaled two sharks, who follow'd o'er the billow – The sailors ate the rest of poor Pedrillo.

LXXVIII.

The sailors ate him, all save three or four,
Who were not quite so fond of animal food;
To these was added Juan, who, before
Refusing his own spaniel, hardly could

(1) [" He requested to be bled to death, the surgeon being with them, and having his case of instruments in his pocket when he quitted the ship."-- Thomas.]

(2) ["No sooner had the fatal instrument touched the vein, than the operator applied his parched lips, and drank the blood as it flowed, while the rest anxiously watched the victim's departing breath, that they might proceed to satisfy the hunger which preyed upon them to so frightful a degree." Ibid.]

Feel now his appetite increased much more
'T was not to be expected that he should,
Even in extremity of their disaster,
Dine with them on his pastor and his master.

LXXIX.

'T was better that he did not; for, in fact,
The consequence was awful in the extreme;
For they, who were most ravenous in the act,
Went raging mad (1)- Lord! how they did blas-

pheme!

And foam and roll, with strange convulsions rack'd, Drinking salt-water like a mountain-stream, Tearing, and grinning, howling, screeching, swearing, And, with hyæna-laughter, died despairing.

LXXX.

Their numbers were much thinn'd by this infliction,
And all the rest were thin enough, Heaven knows;
And some of them had lost their recollection,
Happier than they who still perceived their woes;
But others ponder'd on a new dissection,
As if not warn'd sufficiently by those
Who had already perish'd, suffering madly,
For having used their appetites so sadly.

LXXXI.

And next they thought upon the master's mate,
As fattest; but he saved himself, because,
Besides being much averse from such a fate,

There were some other reasons: the first was,

(1) ["Those who glutted themselves with human flesh and gore, and whose stomachs retained the unnatural food, soon perished with raging insanity," &c. - Thomas.]

He had been rather indisposed of late;

And that which chiefly proved his saving clause, Was a small present made to him at Cadiz,

By general subscription of the ladies.

LXXXII.

Of poor Pedrillo something still remain'd,
But was used sparingly, - some were afraid,
And others still their appetites constrain'd,
Or but at times a little supper made;
All except Juan, who throughout abstain'd,

Chewing a piece of bamboo, and some lead:(1) At length they caught two boobies, and a noddy, (2) And then they left off eating the dead body.

LXXXIII.

And if Pedrillo's fate should shocking be,
Remember Ugolino (3) condescends
To eat the head of his arch-enemy
The moment after he politely ends

(1) [" Another expedient we had frequent recourse to, finding it sup. plied our mouths with temporary moisture, was chewing any substance we could find, generally a bit of canvass, or even lead." — Juno.]

(2) ["On the 25th, at noon, we caught a noddy. I divided it into eighteen portions. In the evening we caught two boobies." — BLIGH.]

(3)

"Quandò ebbe detto ciò, con gli occhi torti
Riprese il teschio misero co' denti,

Che furo all'osso, come d'un can forti."

[The passage is thus powerfully rendered by Dante's last translator, Mr. Ichabod Wright

"Then both my hands through anguish I did bite;
And they, supposing that from want of food
I did so, sudden raised themselves upright,
And said- O father, less will be our pain,

If thou wilt feed on us: thou didst bestow

This wretched flesh-'tis thine to take again :'
Then was I calm, lest they the more should grieve.

His tale: if foes be food in hell, at sea

'Tis surely fair to dine upon our friends,

When shipwreck's short allowance grows too scanty, Without being much more horrible than Dante.

LXXXIV.

And the same night there fell a shower of rain,
For which their mouths gaped, like the cracks of

earth

When dried to summer dust; till taught by pain, Men really know not what good water's worth; If you had been in Turkey or in Spain,

Or with a famish'd boat's-crew had your berth, Or in the desert heard the camel's bell,

You'd wish yourself where Truth is—in a well.

LXXXV.

It pour'd down torrents, but they were no richer
Until they found a ragged piece of sheet,
Which served them as a sort of spongy pitcher,
And when they deem'd its moisture was complete,

Two days all silent we remain'd. O thou

Hard Earth! Why didst thou not beneath us cleave?
Four days our agonies had been delay'd
When Gaddo at my feet his body threw,
Exclaiming, Father, why not give us aid?'
He died and as distinct as here I stand

I saw the three fall one by one, before

The sixth day closed: then, groping with my hand,
I felt each wretched corpse, for sight had fail'd:
Two days I called on those who were no more →
Then hunger, stronger even than grief, prevail'd."
This said aside his vengeful eyes were thrown,
And with his teeth again the skull he tore
Fierce as a dog to gnaw the very bone. -

Inferno, canto xxx. v. 60.

They wrung it out, and though a thirsty ditcher (1) Might not have thought the scanty draught so sweet As a full pot of porter, to their thinking

They ne'er till now had known the joys of drinking.

LXXXVI.

And their baked lips, with many a bloody crack, Suck'd in the moisture, which like nectar stream'd; Their throats were ovens, their swoln tongues were black,

As the rich man's in hell, who vainly scream'd To beg the beggar, who could not rain back

A drop of dew, when every drop had seem'd To taste of heaven - If this be true, indeed, Some Christians have a comfortable creed.

LXXXVII.

There were two fathers in this ghastly crew,
And with them their two sons, of whom the one
Was more robust and hardy to the view,

But he died early; and when he was gone,
His nearest messmate told his sire, who threw
One glance on him, and said, "Heaven's will be
I can do nothing,” and he saw him thrown [done!
Into the deep without a tear or groan. (2)

(1) ["In the evening there came on a squall, which brought he most seasonable relief, as it was accompanied with heavy rain: we had no means of catching it, but by spreading out our clothes; catching the drops as they fell, or squeezing them out of our clothes.” — Centaur.]

(2) [" I particularly remember the following instances: - Mr. Wade's boy, a stout healthy lad, died early, and almost without a groan; while another, of the same age, but of a less promising appearance, held out much longer. Their fathers were both in the fore-top, when the boys were taken ill. Wade, hearing of his son's illness, answered, with indifference, that ' he could do nothing for him,' and left him to his fate."— Juno.]