Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Narrative Of The Sufferings Of Lieutenant George Spearing,
received in the fall , together with the dislocation of one of my rib * , kept me , I imagine , in a continual fever ; I cannot otherwise account for my suffering so much more from thirst than I did from hunger . , At last I discovered the thigh-bone of a bull ( which , I afterwards heard had fallen into the pit about ei ghteen years before me ) , almost covered with the earth . I dug it up ; and the laro-e end of it left cavity that
a , I suppose , might contain a quart . This the water gradually drained into , but so very slowly , that it was a considerable time before I could di p a nut-shell full at a time •¦ whic h I emptied into the palm of my hand , and so drank it . The water now began to increase pretty fast , so that I was glad to enlarge my reservoirin so muchthat the fourth fifth
, , on or day , I had-a sufficient supply ; and this water was certainly the preservation of my life . * At the bottom of the pit there were great quantities of reptiles , such as frogs , toads , large black snails , or slugs , & c . These noxious creatures would frequentl y crawl about me , and often < r 0 t into my reservoir ; nevertheless I thought it the sweetest water Iliad tastedand at
ever ; this distance of time the remembrance of it is so sweet , that , were it now possible to obtain any of it , I am sure I could swallow it with avidity . I have frequently taken both Jrogs and toads put of my neck , where I suppose they took shelter while I slept . The toads I always destroyed , but the frogs I carefully preserved , as I did not know but I might be under the necessity ef them
eating , which I should not have scrupled to have done had I been very hungry . Saturday , the 16 th , there fell but little rain , and I had the satisfaction to hear the voices of some boys in the wood . Immediately I called out with all my might , but it was all in vain , though I afterwards learned that they actually heard me ; but , being prepossessed with an idle story of a wild man being in the wood , they ran sway affri ghted ,
Sunday , the 17 th , was my birth-day , when I completed my forty-first year ; and 1 think it was the next day some of my acquaintance , having accidentally heard that I had gone the way I « ud , sent two or three porters out purposel y to search the pits for me . These men went to the miller ' s house , and made enquiry for me ; but , on account : of the very great rain at the time , they never entered the woodbut cruell
, y returned to their employers , tellinothem they had searched the pit , and that I was not to be found ! Aiaiiy people m my dismal situation would , no doubt , have died with despair ; but , I thank God , I enjoyed a perfect serenity of mind ; so much so , that on the Tuesday afternoon , and when 1 had lieen six nights in the itI composedl ( b of
p , very y y way amusement ) combed my wig on my knee , humming a tune , and thinking of Archer in the " Beaux Stratagem . " ^ At length the morning ( Sept . 20 ) the happy morning for my deliverance came ; a day , that while my memory lasts , 1 will always celebrate with gratitude to Heaven ! Through the brambles and
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Narrative Of The Sufferings Of Lieutenant George Spearing,
received in the fall , together with the dislocation of one of my rib * , kept me , I imagine , in a continual fever ; I cannot otherwise account for my suffering so much more from thirst than I did from hunger . , At last I discovered the thigh-bone of a bull ( which , I afterwards heard had fallen into the pit about ei ghteen years before me ) , almost covered with the earth . I dug it up ; and the laro-e end of it left cavity that
a , I suppose , might contain a quart . This the water gradually drained into , but so very slowly , that it was a considerable time before I could di p a nut-shell full at a time •¦ whic h I emptied into the palm of my hand , and so drank it . The water now began to increase pretty fast , so that I was glad to enlarge my reservoirin so muchthat the fourth fifth
, , on or day , I had-a sufficient supply ; and this water was certainly the preservation of my life . * At the bottom of the pit there were great quantities of reptiles , such as frogs , toads , large black snails , or slugs , & c . These noxious creatures would frequentl y crawl about me , and often < r 0 t into my reservoir ; nevertheless I thought it the sweetest water Iliad tastedand at
ever ; this distance of time the remembrance of it is so sweet , that , were it now possible to obtain any of it , I am sure I could swallow it with avidity . I have frequently taken both Jrogs and toads put of my neck , where I suppose they took shelter while I slept . The toads I always destroyed , but the frogs I carefully preserved , as I did not know but I might be under the necessity ef them
eating , which I should not have scrupled to have done had I been very hungry . Saturday , the 16 th , there fell but little rain , and I had the satisfaction to hear the voices of some boys in the wood . Immediately I called out with all my might , but it was all in vain , though I afterwards learned that they actually heard me ; but , being prepossessed with an idle story of a wild man being in the wood , they ran sway affri ghted ,
Sunday , the 17 th , was my birth-day , when I completed my forty-first year ; and 1 think it was the next day some of my acquaintance , having accidentally heard that I had gone the way I « ud , sent two or three porters out purposel y to search the pits for me . These men went to the miller ' s house , and made enquiry for me ; but , on account : of the very great rain at the time , they never entered the woodbut cruell
, y returned to their employers , tellinothem they had searched the pit , and that I was not to be found ! Aiaiiy people m my dismal situation would , no doubt , have died with despair ; but , I thank God , I enjoyed a perfect serenity of mind ; so much so , that on the Tuesday afternoon , and when 1 had lieen six nights in the itI composedl ( b of
p , very y y way amusement ) combed my wig on my knee , humming a tune , and thinking of Archer in the " Beaux Stratagem . " ^ At length the morning ( Sept . 20 ) the happy morning for my deliverance came ; a day , that while my memory lasts , 1 will always celebrate with gratitude to Heaven ! Through the brambles and