greediness that they were in danger of their lives thenext morning. The sight of these people's distress was very movingto me, and brought to mind what I had a terrible prospect of at myfirst coming on shore in my island, where I had not the leastmouthful of food, or any prospect of procuring any; besides thehourly apprehensions I had of being made the food of othercreatures. But all the while the mate was thus relating to me themiserable condition of the ship's company, I could not put out ofmy thought the story he had told me of the three poor creatures inthe great cabin, viz. the mother, her son, and the maid-servant,whom he had heard nothing of for two or three days, and whom, heseemed to confess, they had wholly neglected, their own extremitiesbeing so great; by which I understood that they had really giventhem no food at all, and that therefore they must be perished, andbe all lying dead, perhaps, on the floor or deck of the cabin.