132 THE OUT-STATION; OR, 



He lived in tortures for about twelve hours, and as 

 soon as the breath was out of his body (cholera then 

 becoming- infectious), we fastened a bolt of pig-iron 

 to his corpse, and launched him over the gangway. 



In a second, the water that had been so deadly 

 calm before, was broken into a perfect whirlpool of 

 foam, and the sharp dorsal fins of a wilderness of 

 sharks, fighting for the prize, soon pointed out to us 

 the dead boy's destiny. 



In the morning of that day, the soldiers of their 

 own accord had put themselves on quarter rations of 

 rice there was no want of water at present; but as 

 for the commissariat of my brother officer and myself, 

 it had entirely vanished ; leaving us only a pound or 

 two of brown sugar, and a bottle of pickled onions to 

 live on, till we were rescued from our present position. 



It was now apparently a matter of difficulty to 

 work the ship with so few hands ; and I was not a 

 little surprised when the native officer of the men on 

 board came up, and informed me that at least twenty 

 out of the thirty soldiers, were as much in their ele- 

 ment afloat as on the parade-ground, having been 

 pirates in the Straits of Malacca during their earlier 

 years ! 



Only too glad to secure their continued good-will and 

 allegiance, I let them take the helm, make sail, and 

 manage the vessel; and if they had not done so, Hea- 

 ven only knows what would have been our end. 



As soon as the funeral was over (and a most unce- 



