394 SHIPWRECK OF THE MEDUSA. 
An ardent thirst, redoubled in the day by the beams of a 
burning sun, consumed us. An officer of the army found by 
chance a small lemon, and it may be easily imagined how 
valuable such a fruit would be to him. His comrades, in 
spite of the most urgent entreaties, could not get a bit of it 
from him. Signs of rage were already manifested, and had 
he not partly listened to the solicitations of those around him, 
they would have taken it by force, and he would ha\^e perish- 
ed the victim of his own selfishness. We also disputed about 
thirty cloves of garlic which were found in the bottom of a 
sack. These disputes were for the most part accompanied 
with violent menaces, and if they had been prolonged, we 
might have come to the last extremities. There were also 
found two small phials, in which was a spirituous liquid for 
cleaning the teeth. He who possessed them kept them with 
care, and gave with reluctance one or two drops in the palm 
of the hand. This, liquor, which, we think, was a tincture of 
guaiacum, cinnamon, and other aromatic substances, produced 
on our tongues an agreeable feeling, and for a short while 
removed the thirst which destroyed us. Some of us found 
some small pieces of powder, which made, when put into the 
mouth, a kind of coolness. One plan generally employed 
was, to put into a hat a quantity of sea- water, with which we 
washed our faces for a while, repeating it at intervals. We 
also bathed our hair, and held our hands in the water. Mis- 
fortune made us ingenious, and each thought of a thousand 
means to alleviate his sufferings. Emaciated by the most 
cruel privations, the least agreeable feeling was to us a hap- 
piness supreme. Thus we sought with avidity a small empty 
phial which one of us possessed, and in which had once been 
some essence of roses ; and every, one as he got hold of it, 
respired with delight the odor it exhaled, which imparted to 
his senses the most soothing impressions. Many of us kept 
our ration of wine in a small tin cup, and sucked it out with 
a quill. This manner of taking it was of great benefit to us, 
and allayed our thirst much better than if we had gulped it off 
at once. 
Three days passed in inexpressible anguish. So much did 
we despise life, that many of us feared not to bathe in sight 
of the sharks which surrounded our raft ; others placed them- 
selves naked upon the front of our machine, which was under 
water. These expedients diminished a little the ardor of our 
thirst. A kind of mollusca, known to seamen by the name of 
gatere, was sometimes driven in great numbers on our raft ; 
