DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70301#0187
PRESERVATION OF LIEUT. SPEARING. 165
from the pit, there was a water-mill. The miller’s house
was nearer to me, and the road to the mill was still nearer. I
could frequently hear the horses going this road to and from
the mill; frequently I heard human voices; and I could dis-
tinctly hear the ducks and hens about the mill. I made the
best use of my voice on every occasion, but it was to no
purpose; for the wind, which was constantly high, blew in
a line from the mill to the pit, which easily accounts for
what I heard; and at the same time my voice was carried the
contrary way. I cannot say I suffered much from hunger.
After two oi> three days that appetite ceased, but my thirst
was intolerable; and though it almost constantly rained, yet
I could not, till the third or fourth day, preserve a drop of
it, as the earth at the bottom of the pit soaked it up as fast
as it ran down. In this distress I sucked my clothes, but from
them I could extract very little moisture. The shock which
I received in the fall, together with the dislocation of one of
my ribs, kept me, I imagine, in a continual fever; I cannot
otherwise account for my suffering so much more from thirst
than I did from hunger. At last I discovered the thigh bone
of a bull, which, as I afterwards heard, had fallen into the
pit about eighteen years before me, almost covered with the
earth. I dug it up, and the large end of it left a cavity that
might, I suppose, contain a quart. Into this the water gra-
dually drained, but so very slowly, that it was a considerable
time before I could dip a nut-shell full, which I emptied into
the palm of my hand, and so drank it. The water now
began to increase pretty fast, so that I was glad to enlarge
my reservoir, insomuch, that on the fourth or fifth day I had
a sufficient supply; and this water was certainly the preserva-
tion of my life.
At the bottom of the pit there were great quantities of
reptiles, sudh as frogs, toads, large black snails or slugs, &c.
These disagreeable creatures would frequently crawl about
me, and often got into my reservoir; nevertheless I thought
from the pit, there was a water-mill. The miller’s house
was nearer to me, and the road to the mill was still nearer. I
could frequently hear the horses going this road to and from
the mill; frequently I heard human voices; and I could dis-
tinctly hear the ducks and hens about the mill. I made the
best use of my voice on every occasion, but it was to no
purpose; for the wind, which was constantly high, blew in
a line from the mill to the pit, which easily accounts for
what I heard; and at the same time my voice was carried the
contrary way. I cannot say I suffered much from hunger.
After two oi> three days that appetite ceased, but my thirst
was intolerable; and though it almost constantly rained, yet
I could not, till the third or fourth day, preserve a drop of
it, as the earth at the bottom of the pit soaked it up as fast
as it ran down. In this distress I sucked my clothes, but from
them I could extract very little moisture. The shock which
I received in the fall, together with the dislocation of one of
my ribs, kept me, I imagine, in a continual fever; I cannot
otherwise account for my suffering so much more from thirst
than I did from hunger. At last I discovered the thigh bone
of a bull, which, as I afterwards heard, had fallen into the
pit about eighteen years before me, almost covered with the
earth. I dug it up, and the large end of it left a cavity that
might, I suppose, contain a quart. Into this the water gra-
dually drained, but so very slowly, that it was a considerable
time before I could dip a nut-shell full, which I emptied into
the palm of my hand, and so drank it. The water now
began to increase pretty fast, so that I was glad to enlarge
my reservoir, insomuch, that on the fourth or fifth day I had
a sufficient supply; and this water was certainly the preserva-
tion of my life.
At the bottom of the pit there were great quantities of
reptiles, sudh as frogs, toads, large black snails or slugs, &c.
These disagreeable creatures would frequently crawl about
me, and often got into my reservoir; nevertheless I thought