tions which the effort gave to his almost black and emaciated face rendered him still more horrible. "Who are you?" said Strain. "Henwood," he replied, and again attempted to touch his hat in true naval discipline. "We were getting very uneasy about you, Sir," he added; "very glad to see you back." Strain, horrified and struck almost dumb at the spectacle, replied mechanically, "Well, Henwood, how are you getting along?" "Oh, very well, Sir; but we were very uneasy about you. We are very glad to see you back, because, if you had not come up to-night, there's me, Harris, Miller, and poor Boggs, who could not have gone on to-morrow, Sir." The appellation "poor" was applied to Boggs, because he was an officer. The posture of this young man, his emaciated, half-naked appearance, the resigned manner in which he spoke of his fate, together with the ghastly attempt at a smile, combined to render him one of the most strange and frightful spectacles the human form ever presents. Beside him sat another in the same condition, who to Strain's inquiries answered in the same manner. Truxton had by this time reached camp again, and exhausted lay down. Strain advanced a little farther to where Boggs—his old schoolmate and fellow-officer—was lying on a ragged counterpane which he had carried instead of a blanket. The poor man had at last yielded to despair, and the presence of his friend failed to rouse him. Strain knelt over him and exclaimed, "Good God! my dear fellow don't think of dying. I have brought plenty of provisions, medicine, doctor, etc. We will soon be on the Pacific. Cheer up, and we will take many a good glass of wine together yet in Springfield!" Finding that he could not rally him, he spoke of the lady to whom he was engaged, of her anxiety and welfare, in order to rekindle hope and effort. "I don't think I shall die yet," replied the sufferer, in a low and feeble voice, but it is fortunate you came up as you did, for they had decided to leave me to-morrow." The perfect composure and resignation which reigned in that ghastly group, gave ten-fold impressiveness to the scene. But no description can convey any adequate impression of its true character. The British officers were shocked beyond measure, and the surgeon declared that though he had seen much of suffering, in hospitals and elsewhere, he never before dreamed that men could live and march in such a state of emaciation and destitution.
It is a little singular that every half-starved creature asked first for sugar, though this may be owing to the effect upon their system of the acid nuts, on which they had so long chiefly sustained life. Five pounds of sugar and five bottles of molasses were first served out. The doctor then went round with some soft biscuit. In arranging the camps that night, Strain ordered the natives to occupy the other side of the river, lest overcome by the importunities of the men, they might give them tobacco and food. After the first slight allowance of food all begged for tobacco, but this the doctor forbade. Strict watch was maintained over them all night, and the wants of each attended to. Vermilyea was kept alive only by stimulants.
The next moving the men awoke elated, and preparations were immediately made for breakfast. Food, of course, was given out in very small portions, as the least excess might prove fatal. Truxton, however, took Strain aside, and in a wheedling way said, confidentially: "Your restricting the men in their food, and even Maury, is exceedingly judicious, but, you know, with us officers it is very different—give me a little meat." But Strain refused, and in a little while Maury took him aside and said, in the same confidential manner: "It is all very well, Captain, to restrain men, and Truck too (meaning Truxton), he is shaky, you know, but I am nearly as well as ever." Strain could not repress a smile, still he refused to be coaxed. However, it is but just to Maury to say, that he was in full as good a condition to gorge himself as Strain was when he ate nearly half his weight at Yavisa. And in speaking of Lieutenant Maury here, it is right and proper to say, that from first to last of this fearful journey, he exhibited all the loftest qualities of an officer and true hero; all the noble feelings of a genuine man, and richly deserves the eulogium pronounced upon him by Strain in his report to the Secretary of the Navy.
The party were three days in regaining the paddle-box. As the men passed their old camps they would talk of the past, and contrast it with the present. Cheerfulness reigned throughout the little fleet of boats, and "Erin go Bragh," "The White Squall," and other naval songs, woke the echoes of the forest as they swept down the winding stream. On the way Strain sounded Maury as to the fact whether they had eaten buzzards. The latter could not deny it; but his disgust at the unclean bird returning with a supply of food, he felt some apology necessary, and replied: "Yes, we did eat them, but perhaps you are not aware there is a great difference between the cock and hen. The one you killed, and we tried to eat and could not, was a cock, and they are very strong. Besides, after all, when men are in a starving condition, a buzzard is better than a turkey, for living on animal food, it is necessarily more nutritious." A hearty laugh exploded the excuse, and no after-defense was made of buzzards.
As they approached the paddle-box, Strain wished to hoist the American ensign, and asked if the one they started with had been preserved. They answered yes. McGinness had been intrusted with it, and had carried it to the last. The only emblem of their nationality that remained to them, he had wrapped it round his breast, and though weapons, haversacks, and blankets had been thrown away, he would never part with it. Wounded feet that needed bandaging, and ulcerated limbs, and tattered garments, could not induce a man to devote that cherished symbol to his own use. Without
