308 The Story of the New England Whalers 



we daily almost perished under the torrid rays of 

 a meridian sun; to escape which we would lie 

 down in the bottom of the boat, cover ourselves 

 with the sails, and abandon her to the mercy of 

 the waves. Upon attempting to rise again the 

 blood would rush into the head and an intoxicat- 

 ing blindness come over us." 



Six days later still, he said: "We were hardly 

 able to crawl about the boat. Our ounce and a 

 half of bread, which was to serve us all day, was 

 in some cases greedily devoured, as if life was 

 to continue but another moment; and at other 

 times it was hoarded up and eaten crumb by 

 crumb, at regular intervals during the day, as if 

 it was to last forever." 



To add to their misery, the men usually dreamed 

 of eating at tables loaded with food. 



On February 8 one of the men, Isaac Cole, sud- 

 denly leaped to his feet, hoisted the jib, shouted 

 that he would not give up, and that he would live 

 as long as any of them. Then he fell down and 

 died. Chase told the survivors that they ought 

 to use the body for food. 



"We separated his limbs from his body and 



