The master returning to his tent with the most acute sense of the
various miseries they were involved in, was ready to expire with
faintness and anguish; and placing himself so as to receive some
refreshment from sleep, he observed an unusual air of intentness
in the countenances of all the people; when, after some pause, Mr.
Whitworth, a young gentleman, his mother’s darling son, delicately
educated, amidst so great an affluence as to despise common food,
began in the name of the assembly to court the master’s concurrence
in converting the human carcass into the matter of their
nourishment; and was immediately seconded by a great majority,
three only opposing on account of their esteeming it a heinous sin.
This affair had been thus consulted and concluded upon in the
master’s absence, and the present method concerted of making it
known by a gentleman reputed to be much in his favor. The master
remained in his former posture, observing an invincible silence,
while they were urging their desires with irresistible vehemence;
for nothing that ever befell him from the day of his birth, not
even the dread and distress of his soul upon quitting the wreck
when he did not expect to live a minute, was so amazingly shocking
as this unexpected proposal. But after a short interval, he
maturely weighed all circumstances and pronounced in favor of the
majority, arguing the improbability of its being a sin to eat human
flesh in a case of such necessity, providing they were in no ways
accessory to the taking away of life.
The body of the carpenter was their sustenance until a shallop, sailing
out of Portsmouth, discovered the fragments of a tent among the rocks
and snow of Boon Island and a few figures of men feebly crawling out
of the shelter. The crew of the _Nottingham Galley_ were carried to
the little seaport at the mouth of the Piscataqua, and there all of
them recovered, although seriously crippled because of frozen hands and
feet. At the end of Captain Deane’s story is the following note:
At the first publication of this narrative, Mr. Whitworth and the
mate were then living in England, and the master survived until
the 19th of August, 1761. And out of sincere regard to the memory
of Captain Deane, and that such an instance of Divine Providence
should not be buried in oblivion, Mr. Miles Whitworth, son of the
above Mr. Whitworth, now republishes this narrative, hoping (with
a Divine blessing) that it may prove of service to reclaim the
unthinking part of seafaring men trading in and to New England.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account