Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Narrative Of The Sufferings Of Lieutenant George Spearing,
sis a taylor does at his work ) , the blood flowing pretty fast from my * mouth ; and . I . thought that I had broken a blood-vessel , and-eon-Sjsquently had not long to live ; but , to my great comfort , I soon discovered that the biood proceeded from a wound in my tongue , which I suppose I had bitten in my fall . Looking at my-watch ( it was ten minutes past four ) , and getting up , I surveyed- my limbs , and to inexpressible joy found that not one was broken . I was
my soon reconciled to my situation , having from my childhood thought that something . very extraordinary was to happen to me in the course of my life ; and I had not the least doubt of being relieved in the morni ' tig ; for the wood being but small and situated near a populous city , it is much frequented , especially in the nutting-seasonand there are several foot-paths leading through it .
, Nig ht now approached , when it began to rain , not in gentle qhowers , but in torrents of water , such as is generally experienced at the autumnal . equinox . The pit I had fallen into was about five feet in diameter ; but , not having been worked for several years , the subterranean passages were choked up , so that I was exposed to the rainwhich continued with very small intermissionstill the
, , day . of my release ; and , indeed , in a very short time , I was completely wet through . In this comfortless condition I endeavoured io take some repose . A forked stick that 1 found in the pit , and wliich I placed diagonally to the side of it , served alternately to support . ihy head as a pillow , or my-body occasionally , which was
much bruised ; but in the whole time I remained here , I do not think that I ever slept one hour together . . Having passed a very disagreeable and tedious night , I ' was somewhat cheered with the appearance of day-light , and the melody of a robin redbreast that had perched directly over the mouth of the pit ; and this pretty little warbler continued to . visit my quarters every morning during ijiy confinementwhich I construed into a happy omen of my
fu-; ture deliverance ; and I sincerely believe the trust I had in Providence , and the company of-this'little bird , contributed much to that serenity of mind I ' constantly enjoyed to the last . At the distance of about a hundred yards , in a direct line from , the pit , there was a water mill . The miller ' s house was nearer to me , and the road to the mill was still nearer . I could frequently hear the horses going this ,
road to and from the mill ; frequently I heard human voices ; and I could distinctly hear the ducks and hens about the mill . I made the best use of my voice on every occasion ; but it was to no purpose ; for the wind , which was constantly high , blew in a line from the mill to the pit , which easily accounts for what I heard ; and , at the same time my voice was carried the contrary way . I
cannot say I suffered much from hunger . After two or three days that appetite ceased ; but my . thirst was intolerable ; and , though it almost constantly rained , yet I could not till the third or fourth day preserve a drop of it , as the earth at the bottom of the p it sucked jt up as fast as it ran down . In this distress I sucked my clothes ; put from them I could extract but little moisture . The shock I
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Narrative Of The Sufferings Of Lieutenant George Spearing,
sis a taylor does at his work ) , the blood flowing pretty fast from my * mouth ; and . I . thought that I had broken a blood-vessel , and-eon-Sjsquently had not long to live ; but , to my great comfort , I soon discovered that the biood proceeded from a wound in my tongue , which I suppose I had bitten in my fall . Looking at my-watch ( it was ten minutes past four ) , and getting up , I surveyed- my limbs , and to inexpressible joy found that not one was broken . I was
my soon reconciled to my situation , having from my childhood thought that something . very extraordinary was to happen to me in the course of my life ; and I had not the least doubt of being relieved in the morni ' tig ; for the wood being but small and situated near a populous city , it is much frequented , especially in the nutting-seasonand there are several foot-paths leading through it .
, Nig ht now approached , when it began to rain , not in gentle qhowers , but in torrents of water , such as is generally experienced at the autumnal . equinox . The pit I had fallen into was about five feet in diameter ; but , not having been worked for several years , the subterranean passages were choked up , so that I was exposed to the rainwhich continued with very small intermissionstill the
, , day . of my release ; and , indeed , in a very short time , I was completely wet through . In this comfortless condition I endeavoured io take some repose . A forked stick that 1 found in the pit , and wliich I placed diagonally to the side of it , served alternately to support . ihy head as a pillow , or my-body occasionally , which was
much bruised ; but in the whole time I remained here , I do not think that I ever slept one hour together . . Having passed a very disagreeable and tedious night , I ' was somewhat cheered with the appearance of day-light , and the melody of a robin redbreast that had perched directly over the mouth of the pit ; and this pretty little warbler continued to . visit my quarters every morning during ijiy confinementwhich I construed into a happy omen of my
fu-; ture deliverance ; and I sincerely believe the trust I had in Providence , and the company of-this'little bird , contributed much to that serenity of mind I ' constantly enjoyed to the last . At the distance of about a hundred yards , in a direct line from , the pit , there was a water mill . The miller ' s house was nearer to me , and the road to the mill was still nearer . I could frequently hear the horses going this ,
road to and from the mill ; frequently I heard human voices ; and I could distinctly hear the ducks and hens about the mill . I made the best use of my voice on every occasion ; but it was to no purpose ; for the wind , which was constantly high , blew in a line from the mill to the pit , which easily accounts for what I heard ; and , at the same time my voice was carried the contrary way . I
cannot say I suffered much from hunger . After two or three days that appetite ceased ; but my . thirst was intolerable ; and , though it almost constantly rained , yet I could not till the third or fourth day preserve a drop of it , as the earth at the bottom of the p it sucked jt up as fast as it ran down . In this distress I sucked my clothes ; put from them I could extract but little moisture . The shock I