344 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

his kettle on one of the hooks or spikes in the brick-work, he stood ready to kindle his little fire as soon as the cook or his mates would permit it to be done. It required but little fuel to boil our food in these kettles; for their bottoms were made in a concave form, and the fire was applied directly in the centre. And let the remaining brands be ever so small, they were carefully quenched “and kept for future use.” “Memory,” says a survivor, “still brings before me those emaciated beings, moving from the galley with their wretched pittance of meat; each creeping to the spot where his mesa were assembled, to divide it with a group of haggard and sickly creatures, their garments hanging in tatters around their meagre limbs, and the hue of death upon their careworn faces. By these it was consumed with their scanty remnants of bread, which was often mouldy and filled with worms. And, even from this vile fare they would rise up in torments from the cravings of unsatisfied hunger and thirst.” The cook was the only one on board who had much flesh upon his bones. He was also a prisoner, who, despairing of ever regaining his liberty, had accepted his situation as one which, at least, would keep him from starvation and, considering the circumstances by which he was surrounded, displayed a commendable degree of good humor and forbearance; although when, as sometimes happened, his patience became exhausted by the importunities and trickeries of the starving crowd around him, he would “make the hot water fly” among them.

The necessary routine of daily service on board the ship—such as

the prisoners; and Dring mentions that once, while assisting at the burial of one of his comrades, he found a, hogshead stave floating in the water, which furnished his mess with fuel for a considerable time. At another time he managed to steal a stick of wood from a quantity which was being taken on board for the ship’s use, by which his mess “were supplied with a sufficient quantity for a long time, and its members were considered by for the most wealthy persons in all this republic of misery.” The mode of preparing the wood for use, was to cut it with a penknife into pieces about four inches long. This labor occupied much of their time, and was performed by the different members of the mess. in rotation; being an employment to them of no little pleasure. The quantity thus prepared for the next day's use was deposited in the eat, while the main stock was jealously guarded, day and night, by its fortunate owners, who even went Into mathematical calculations, to ascertain how long It would Probably last, if used in certain daily quantities. In a similar manner, by obliging each member of the mess to save a little each day for the common stock, a small supply of fresh water was secured and carefully hoarded in the chest.