DEATH OF A PIRATE, 189 



liand of death was laid on his brow, feebly and hm-riedly he muttered, 

 "• I am a dying man, farewell !" 



Alas ! It is painful to see death in any shape ; in this it was horrible, 

 for there was no hope. The rattling of his throat announced the moment 

 of dissolution, and already did the body fall on my arms with a weight 

 that was insupportable. I laid him on the ground. A mass of dark 

 blood poured from his mouth ; then came a frightful groan, the last brea- 

 thing of that foul spirit ; and what now lay at my feet in the wild desert ? 

 — a mangled mass of clay ! 



The remainder of that night was passed in no enviable mood ; but my 

 feehngs cannot be described. At dawn I dug a hole with the paddle of 

 my canoe, rolled the body into it, and covered it. On reaching the boat 

 I found several buzzards feeding on the bodies, which I in vain attempted 

 to drag to the shore. I therefore covered them with mud and weeds, and 

 launching my canoe, paddled from the cove with a secret joy for my es- 

 cape, overshaded with the gloom of mingled dread and abhorrence." 



