nodding to us in a cheerful although rather odd way, and smiling
constantly, so as to display a set of the most brilliantly white
teeth. As his vessel drew nearer, we saw a red flannel cap which he
had on fall from his head into the water; but of this he took little
or no notice, continuing his odd smiles and gesticulations. I relate
these things and circumstances minutely, and I relate them, it must
be understood, precisely as they _appeared _to us.

The brig came on slowly, and now more steadily than before, and
-- I cannot speak calmly of this event -- our hearts leaped up wildly
within us, and we poured out our whole souls in shouts and
thanksgiving to God for the complete, unexpected, and glorious
deliverance that was so palpably at hand. Of a sudden, and all at
once, there came wafted over the ocean from the strange vessel (which
was now close upon us) a smell, a stench, such as the whole world has
no name for -- no conception of -- hellish -- utterly suffocating --
insufferable, inconceivable. I gasped for breath, and turning to my
companions, perceived that they were paler than marble. But we had
now no time left for question or surmise- the brig was within fifty
feet of us, and it seemed to be her intention to run under our
counter, that we might board her without putting out a boat. We
rushed aft, when, suddenly, a wide yaw threw her off full five or six
points from the course she had been running, and, as she passed under
our stern at the distance of about twenty feet, we had a full view of
her decks. Shall I ever forget the triple horror of that spectacle?
Twenty-five or thirty human bodies, among whom were several females,
lay scattered about between the counter and the galley in the last
and most loathsome state of putrefaction. We plainly saw that not a
soul lived in that fated vessel! Yet we could not help shouting to
the dead for help! Yes, long and loudly did we beg, in the agony of