You hardly could perceive when he was dead. He died as born, a catholic in faith,

Like most in the belief in which they're bred, And first a little crucifix he kiss'd,

And then held out his jugular and wrist.

LXXVII.

The surgeon, as there was no other fee,
Had his first choice of morsels for his pains';
But being thirstiest at the moment, he

Preferr'd a draught from the fast-flowing veins:
Part was divided, part thrown in the sea,

And such things as the entrails and the brains Regaled two sharks, who follow'd o'er the billowThe sailors ate the rest of poor Pedrillo.

LXXVIII.

The sailors ate him, all save three or four,
Who were not quite so fond of animal food;
To these was added Juan, who, before
Refusing his own spaniel, hardly could
Feel now his appetite increased much more;
''Twas not to be expected that he should,
Even in extremity of their disaster,

Dine with them on his pastor and his master.

LXXIX.

'Twas better that he did not; for, in fact,

The consequence was awful in the extreme: For they, who were most ravenous in the act,

Went raging mad-Lord! how they did blaspheme! And foam and roll, with strange convulsions rack'd, Drinking salt-water like a mountain-stream, Tearing, and grinning, howling, screeching, swearing, And, with hyæna laughter, died dispairing.

LXXX.

Their numbers were much thinn'd by this infliction,

And all the rest were thin enough, heaven knows; And some of them had lost their recollection,

Happier than they who still perceived their woes; But others ponder'd on a new dissection,

As if not warn'd sufficiently by those Who had already perish'd, suffering madly, For having used their appetite so sadly.

LXXXI.

And next they thought upon the master's mate,
As fattest; but he saved himself, because,
Besides being much averse from such a fate,

There were some other reasons; the first was,
He had been rather indisposed of late,

And that which chiefly proved his saving clause, Was a small present made to him at Cadiz, By general subscription of the ladies.

Of

LXXXII.

poor Pedrillo something still remain'd,
But was used sparingly,- -some were afraid,
And others still their appetite constrain❜d,
Or but at times a little supper made;
All except Juan, who throughout abstain'd,
Chewing a piece of bamboo, and some lead:
At length they caught too boobies, and à noddy,
And then they left off eating the dead body.

LXXXIII.

And if Pedrillo's fate should shocking be,
Remember Ugolino condescends

To eat the head of his arch-enemy

The moment after he politely ends His tale; if foes be food in hell, at sea

'Tis surely fair to dine upon our friends,

When shipwreck's short allowance grows too scanty, Without being much more horrible than Dante.

LXXXIV.

And the same night there fell a shower of rain,
For which their mouths gaped, like the cracks of
When dried to summer dust; till taught by pain, [earth
Men really know not what good water's worth;
If you had been in Turkey or in Spain,

Or with a famish'd boat's-crew had your birth,

Or in the desert heard the camel's bell,

You'd wish yourself where Truth is-in a well.

LXXXV.

It pour'd down torrents, but they were no richer
Until they found a ragged piece of sheet,
Which served them as a sort of spongy pitcher,
And when they deem'd its moisture was complete,
They wrung it out, and though a thirsty ditcher

Might not have thought the scanty draught so sweet As a full pot of porter, to their thinking

They ne'er till now had known the joys of drinking.

LXXXVI.

And their baked lips, with many a bloody crack,
Suck'd in the moisture, which like nectar stream'd;
Their throats were ovens, their swoln tongues were
As the rich man's in hell, who vainly scream'd [black,
To beg the beggar, who could not rain back

A drop of dew, when every drop had seem'd
To taste of heaven-If this be true, indeed,
Some Christians have a comfortable creed.

LXXXVII.

There were two fathers in this ghastly crew,

And with them their two sons, of whom the one Was more robust and hardy to the view,

But he died early; and when he was gone His nearest messmate told his sire, who threw

One glance on him and said, "Heaven's will be done!

I can do nothing," and he saw him thrown

Into the deep without a tear or groan.

LXXXVIII.

The other father had a weaklier child,
Of a soft cheek, and aspect delicate;
But the boy bore up long, and with a mild
And patient spirit held aloof his fate;
Little he said, and now and then he smiled,
As if to win a part from off the weight
He saw increasing on his father's heart,
With the deep deadly thought, that they must part.

LXXXIX.

And o'er him bent his sire, and never raised
His eyes from off his face, but wiped the foam
From his pale lips, and ever on him gazed,

And when the wish'd-for shower at length was come, And the boy's eyes, which the dull film half glazed, Brighten'd, and for a moment seem'd to roam,

He squeezed from out a rag some drops of rain
Into his dying child's mouth-but in vain.

XC.

The boy expired-the father held the clay,
And look'd upon it long, and when at last
Death left no doubt, and the dead burthen lay
Stiff on his heart, and pulse and hope were past,

He watch'd it wistfully, until away

'Twas borne by the rude wave wherein 'twas cast; Then he himself sunk down all dumb and shivering, And gave no signs of life, save his limbs quivering.

XCI.

Now overhead a rainbow, bursting through

The scattering clouds, shone, spanning the dark sea, Resting its bright base on the quivering blue; And all within its arch appear'd to be Clearer than that without, and its wide hue Wax'd broad and waving, like a banner free, Then changed like to a bow that's bent, and then Forsook the dim eyes of these shipwreck'd men.

XCII.

It changed, of course; a heavenly chameleon,
The airy child of vapour and the sun,
Brought forth in purple, cradled in vermilion,
Baptized in molten gold, and swathed in dun,
Glittering like crescents o'er a Tork's pavilion,
And blending every colour into one,
Just like a black eye in a recent scuffle,

(For sometimes we must box without the muffle.)

XCIII.

Our shipwreck'd seamen thought it a good omen-
It is as well to think so, now and then;
'Twas an old custom of the Greek and Roman,
And may become of great advantage when
Folks are discouraged; and most surely no men
Had greater need to nerve themselves again
Than these, and so this rainbow look'd like hope-
Quite a celestial kaleidoscope.