JANUARY 7.—During the last few days, since the wind has freshened, the salt water constantly dashing over the raft has terribly punished the feet and legs of some of the sailors. Owen, whom the boatswain ever since the revolt has kept bound to the mast, is in a deplorable state, and, at our request, has been released from his restraint. Sandon and Burke are also suffering from the severe smarting caused in this way, and it is only owing to our more sheltered position on the aft-part of the raft, that we have not all shared the same inconvenience.  
To-day the boatswain, maddened by starvation, laid hands upon everything that met his voracious¹ eyes, and I could hear the grating of his teeth as he gnawed² at fragments of sails and bits of wood, instinctively³ endeavoring to fill his stomach by putting the mucus into circulation. At length, by dint⁴ of an eager search, he came upon a piece of leather hanging to one of the spars that supported the platform. He snatched it off and devoured⁵ it greedily; and, as it was animal matter, it really seemed as though the absorption of the substance afforded him some temporary relief. Instantly we all followed his example; a leather hat, the rims⁶ of caps, in short, anything that contained any animal matter at all, were gnawed and sucked with the utmost avidity. Never shall I forget the scene. We were no longer human—the impulses and instincts of brute⁷ beasts seemed to actuate our every movement.
 
For a moment the pangs⁸ of hunger were somewhat allayed⁹; but some of us revolted against the loathsome¹⁰ food, and were seized either with violent nausea¹¹ or absolute sickness. I must be pardoned for giving these distressing¹² details; but how otherwise can I depict¹³ the misery¹⁴, moral and physical, which we are enduring? And with it all, I dare not venture to hope that we have reached the climax

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