296 A WEEK AT PITCAIRN. 
M'Coy, who had suffered the most severely, had 
had his arm amputated above the elbow, it hav- 
ing been perfectly shattered. The arm was going 
on well, but the surgeons gave very little hope, 
owing to the shock the system had received ; 
his breathing was very difficult ; and, altogether, 
we could not help feeling that his hours were 
numbered. Poor M'Coy 1 He had pleaded very 
hard that they would not take off his arm; as, 
without it, he said he should be of very little 
use to his wife and his eight children. They 
told him it was his only chance of life, when he 
submitted to the amputation with unflinching 
nerve. It was a necessary, but, as the issue 
proved, a useless infliction; he remained in 
the same state, hovering between life and death, 
until about two o'clock the next morning, when 
he died. 
The two others were severely wounded and 
burnt, but not dangerously ; and every hope is 
entertained of their recovery. 
Thursday. — This dreadful accident has over- 
whelmed the little community with grief; there 
is nothing but weeping; they are truly one 
family, bound together in heart as they are by 
the ties of relationship. 
At sunset we, that is, the officers and petty offi- 
cers of the Virago, and the Islanders, assembled 
outside the house where the body of poor M'Coy 
lay. His widow had begged to be allowed to 
take a last look of what was her husband ; the 
surgeons feared what the effect might be, as she 
was near her confinement; but she pleaded so 
piteously, that, at last, they had not the heart to 
