EPISODES 341 



ceeded towards the object of my mingled alarm and 

 commiseration. 



" Alas ! the poor being who lay prostrate at my feet was 

 so weakened by loss of blood that I had nothing to fear 

 from him. My first impulse was to run back to the 

 water, and having done so, I returned with my cap filled 

 to the brim. I felt at his heart, washed his face and 

 breast, and rubbed his temples with the contents of a 

 phial which I kept about me as an antidote for the bites 

 of snakes. His features, seamed by the ravages of time, 

 looked frightful and disgusting; but he had been a pow- 

 erful man, as the breadth of his chest plainly showed. 

 He groaned in the most appalling manner, as his breath 

 struggled through the mass of blood that seemed to fill 

 his throat. His dress plainly disclosed his occupation. 

 A large pistol he had thrust into his bosom, a naked cut- 

 lass lay near him on the ground, a red silk handkerchief 

 was bound over his projecting brows, and over a pair of 

 loose trousers he wore fisherman's boots. He was, in 

 short, a pirate. 



" My exertions were not in vain, for as I continued to 

 bathe his temples he revived, his pulse resumed some 

 strength, and I began to hope that he might perhaps sur- 

 vive the deep wounds he had received. Darkness, deep 

 darkness, now enveloped us. I spoke of making a fire. 

 'Oh! for mercy's sake,' he exclaimed, 'don't.' Know- 

 ing, however, that under existing circumstances it was 

 expedient for me to do so, I left him, went to his boat, 

 and brought the rudder, the benches, and the oars, which 

 with my hatchet I soon splintered. I then struck a light, 

 and presently stood in the glare of a blazing fire. The 

 pirate seemed struggling between terror and gratitude 

 for my assistance; he desired me several times in half 

 English and Spanish to put out the flames ; but after I had 

 given him a draught of strong spirits, he at length be- 

 came more composed. I tried to stanch the blood that 



