potatoes,
and would gladly have given up the beef and pork to get them.

I had now become a pretty fair seaman, and was placed aloft to keep a
look-out for strange vessels, or land, or rocks, or shoals. I had my
eyes to the north, when I saw what I first thought was a cask. I hailed
the deck, and then the second mate came up and said that it was a boat.
The ship was steered towards it. I could see no one moving, and thought
that it must be empty; but the mate said that he saw some men's heads
above the gunwale. He was right, for suddenly, as if he was just awoke,
a man stood up and waved a shirt, and then others lifted up their heads
and waved their hats; but the first soon sunk down again, as if too weak
to stand. As we drew near they again waved their hats, and we saw their
mouths moving, as if they were trying to cheer, but their voices were
too weak to reach us. We made out five men, who had just strength to
sit up and lean over the side. We hove-to; that is, we placed the sails
so as to stop the way of the ship, and lowered a boat, for the waves
were too high to make it safe to take the ship alongside of the boat. I
jumped into our boat. Never shall I forget the thin, miserable faces of
the poor fellows in the boat. Besides the five sitting up, there were
three others lying on the bottom, so far gone that they scarcely seemed
to know that help had come to them. There was not a morsel of food, nor
a drop of water on board. Their boat, too, was so battered and rotten,
that it was a wonder it was still afloat. One or two of the strongest
tried to speak, but couldn't, and burst into tears as we got alongside;
some of the rest groaned, and pointed to their mouths, as if we wanted
to be told that they were starving. As we didn't like to try even to
tow their boat, we lifted them out gently into ours. Some of them,
though pretty big men, were as light as young boys. We left their boat,
and pulled back to the ship as fast as we could, for there was no time
to lose. Two of these poor fellows, indeed, must have died in the boat,
for they were corpses when we got them on deck. If we had been left to
ourselves, we should have killed them all with over-feeding; but Captain
Bolton would allow them at first only a spoonful or two of weak brandy
and water, and then a little arrowroot, and afterwards some soup; but
not for some hours would he give them any heavy food, and even then a
very little at a time. The res