Accidents > Dangers of the deep, or, Narratives of shipwreck and adventure at sea

KETUBU TO MOUNT MISERY. 175
to death for the support of the rest, began to
be mentioned in whispers; and indeed there
were some among us who, by eating what
they found raw, were become little better
than cannibals. But fortunately for us, and
opportunely to prevent this horrid proceeding,
Mr. Hamilton, at this time, found some rotten
pieces of beef, cast up by the sea at some
miles distance from the huts, which he, though
a temptation which few would have resisted
in parallel circumstances, scorned to conceal
from the rest; but generously distributed
among us.
A few days after, the mystery of the nail¬
ing up of the hut, and what had been doing
by the Indians upon the island in our absence,
was partly explained to us; for about the
fifteenth day after our return, there came a
party of Indians to the island in two canoes,
who were not a little surprised to find us
here again. Among these, was an Indian of
the tribe of the Chonos, who live in the neigh¬
bourhood of Chiloe." He talked the Spanish
language, but with that savage accent which
* Chiloe is an island on the western coast of America, about
the 43d deg. of S. latitude; and the southernmost settlement
under the Spanish jurisdiction on that coast.