I now told them I was willing to submit to the proposal, merely
      requesting a delay of about one hour, in order that the fog which
      had gathered around us might have an opportunity of lifting, when
      it was possible that the ship we had seen might be again in
      sight. After great difficulty I obtained from them a promise to
      wait thus long; and, as I had anticipated (a breeze rapidly
      coming in), the fog lifted before the hour had expired, when, no
      vessel appearing in sight, we prepared to draw lots. It is with extreme reluctance that I dwell upon the appalling
      scene which ensued; a scene which, with its minutest details, no
      after events have been able to efface in the slightest degree
      from my memory, and whose stern recollection will embitter every
      future moment of my existence. Let me run over this portion of my
      narrative with as much haste as the nature of the events to be
      spoken of will permit. The only method we could devise for the
      terrific lottery, in which we were to take each a chance, was
      that of drawing straws. Small splinters of wood were made to
      answer our purpose, and it was agreed that I should be the
      holder. I retired to one end of the hulk, while my poor
      companions silently took up their station in the other with their
      backs turned toward me. The bitterest anxiety which I endured at
      any period of this fearful drama was while I occupied myself in
      the arrangement of the lots. There are few conditions into which
      man can possibly fall where he will not feel a deep interest in
      the preservation of his existence; an interest momentarily
      increasing with the frailness of the tenure by which that
      existence may be held. But now that the silent, definite, and
      stern nature of the business in which I was engaged (so different
      from the tumultuous dangers of the storm or the gradually
      approaching horrors of famine) allowed me to reflect on the few
      chances I had of escaping the most appalling of deaths—a death
      for the most appalling of purposes—every particle of that energy
      which had so long buoyed me up departed like feathers before the
      wind, leaving me a helpless prey to the most abject and pitiable
      terror. I could not, at first, even summon up sufficient strength
      to tear and fit together the small splinters of wood, my fingers
      absolutely refusing their office, and my knees knocking violently
      against each other. My mind ran over rapidly a thousand absurd
      projects by which to avoid becoming a partner in the awful
      speculation. I thought of falling on my knees to my companions,
      and entreating them to let me escape this necessity; of suddenly
      rushing upon them, and, by putting one of them to death, of
      rendering the decision by lot useless—in short, of every thing
      but of going through with the matter I had in hand. At last,
      after wasting a long time in this imbecile conduct, I was
      recalled to my senses by the voice of Parker, who urged me to
      relieve them at once from the terrible anxiety they were
      enduring. Even then I could not bring myself to arrange the
      splinters upon the spot, but thought over every species of
      finesse by which I could trick some one of my fellow-sufferers to
      draw the short straw, as it had been agreed that whoever drew the
      shortest of four splinters from my hand was to die for the
      preservation of the rest. Before any one condemn me for this
      apparent heartlessness, let him be placed in a situation
      precisely similar to my own. At length delay was no longer possible, and, with a heart almost
      bursting from my bosom, I advanced to the region of the
      forecastle, where my companions were awaiting me. I held out my
      hand with the splinters, and Peters immediately drew. He was
      free—his, at least, was not the shortest; and there was now
      another chance against my escape. I summoned up all my strength,
      and passed the lots to Augustus. He also drew immediately, and he
      also was free; and now, whether I should live or die, the chances
      were no more than precisely even. At this moment all the
      fierceness of the tiger possessed my bosom, and I felt toward my
      poor fellow-creature, Parker, the most intense, the most
      diabolical hatred. But the feeling did not last; and, at length,
      with a convulsive shudder and closed eyes, I held out the two
      remaining splinters toward him. It was fully five minutes before
      he could summon resolution to draw, during which period of
      heartrending suspense I never once opened my eyes. Presently one
      of the two lots was quickly drawn from my hand. The decision was
      then over, yet I knew not whether it was for me or against me. No
      one spoke, and still I dared not satisfy myself by looking at the
      splinter I held. Peters at length took me by the hand, and I
      forced myself to look up, when I immediately saw by the
      countenance of Parker that I was safe, and that he it was who had
      been doomed to suffer. Gasping for breath, I fell senseless to
      the deck. I recovered from my swoon in time to behold the consummation of
      the tragedy in the death of him who had been chiefly instrumental
      in bringing it about. He made no resistance whatever, and was
      stabbed in the back by Peters, when he fell instantly dead. I
      must not dwell upon the fearful repast which immediately ensued. Such things may be imagined, but words have no power to impress
      the mind with the exquisite horror of their reality. Let it
      suffice to say that, having in some measure appeased the raging
      thirst which consumed us by the blood of the victim, and having
      by common consent taken off the hands, feet, and head, throwing
      them together with the entrails, into the sea, we devoured the
      rest of the body, piecemeal, during the four ever memorable days
      of the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth of the
      month. On the nineteenth, there coming on a smart shower which lasted
      fifteen or twenty minutes, we contrived to catch some water by
      means of a sheet which had been fished up from the cabin by our
      drag just after the gale. The quantity we took in all did not
      amount to more than half a gallon; but even this scanty allowance
      supplied us with comparative strength and hope. On the twenty-first we were again reduced to the last necessity.