h they had to accept themselves, was their inability
to drink water. It was frightful to see the poor wretches, staggering
around with eyes wide open and the terrible fear of death in them,
going to the barrel for a drink, only to tumble back in convulsions at
the sight of the water. We strapped them down as they needed it, and
they died, one by one; for there was no helping them.

"We had started with a crew of twenty, a carpenter, sailmaker, steward,
and cook, besides the mate and myself. Eight were gone now, and from
the exhaustion of the remainder, due to extra work and loss of sleep,
it became difficult to work ship. Men aloft moved slowly, fearing at
any moment the sting of small, sharp teeth. Skysails, royals, and
staysails blew away before men could get up to furl them. Gear that had
parted was left unrove; for a panic-stricken crew cannot be bullied or
coerced. Any of them would take a knock-down from the mate or myself
rather than go aloft at night.

"We got clear of the doldrums in time, and by then six more of the
crew, including the cook, had been bitten, and things looked bad. I now
strongly advised the mate to put in to St.-Louis or some other port on
the African coast, land the crew, and wait until the last rat had been
bitten by his fellow and died; but he would not have it. To land the
men, he said, meant to lose them, and to wait until another crew was
sent by the owners. This would be loss of time, money, and prospects. I
could only give way, even though the last item pertained solely to him.
I was not a navigator, and did not hope for promotion to a command.

"So we held on, dodging the crazed men when the disease had reached
their brains, knocking them down and binding them when necessary, and
watching them die in their tracks like so many mad dogs. And all this
time the number of rats that sought the deck for light and air was
increasing. We carried belaying pins in our boots now, ready to swipe a
rat that got too close; but as for killing them all this way, it was
beyond any chance. There were too many, and they ran too fast. Before
the six men had died, others had been bitten, and one had felt the
teeth of a maddened shipmate. So the terrible game continued; we had
only seven men before the mast now, and the carpenter and sailmaker had
to drop their work and stand watch, while the steward quit being a
steward to cook for those that were left.

"The man at the wheel had heard me arguing with t