ing
for water--for, in consequence of the discovery that had been made,
their morning's allowance had not yet been served to them; and water was
always the thing they seemed most to covet and desire. Its scarcity was
to them their greatest grief. Even at that moment, as I passed the
hatchway, I could hear them calling for "water--water," some in their
native tongue, and others--in hopes of being better understood--in that
language best-known along the African Coast--the Portuguese--repeating
the word:--

"_Agoa_--_agoa_!"

CHAPTER FORTY SIX.

Unhappy beings! I shuddered as I reflected on what was before them.
They were to endure thirst in all its gradations--from the simple,
scarce painful longing for water--which most of them already felt--to
the extremest agony and torture which that appetite can inflict. But a
few days before, I had myself experienced thirst; but what signified
that compared to what they would be compelled to endure? Simply
nothing--a mere foretaste, that enabled me to judge how terribly painful
thirst may become. Yes; I shuddered as I reflected on what was before
them!

Little did I dream how short was to be the period of their endurance.
Little thought I, as I paced along the deck and listened to their cries
for water, that their sufferings from thirst would soon be at an end.

It was not their destiny to die from the want of water. Alas! a far
more horrible doom was in store for them--a doom that I almost shudder
to recount.

As the day advanced, their cries for water--"agoa! agoa!"--became more
frequent and plaintive. There were some who shouted in anger.
Wondering why they had been denied their customary allowance, there were
some who fancied it arose either from neglect on the part of their white
tyrants--whom they saw moving about perfectly indifferent to their
entreaties--or else from some capricious cruelty to torture and punish
them! It is hard to say what might have been their imaginings; but many
of them exhibited symptoms of fury amounting almost to frenzy. They
approached the grating with gestures of menace, and endeavoured by main
strength to force the strong woodwork from off the hatch. Some gnashed
their teeth and frothed at the lips; beating their breasts with clenched
fists, and yelling their native war-cries, until their voices echoed far
over the waters!

To all these demonstrations the crew of the _Pandora_ paid no heed--
except that two sentries instead