At length I felt his hand upon my shoulder, and he placed, at the same moment, a bottle of water to my lips.

Those only who have been suddenly redeemed from the jaws of the tomb, or who have known the insufferable torments of thirst under circumstances as aggravated as those which encompassed me in my dreary prison, can form any idea of the unutterable transports which that one long draught of the richest of all physical luxuries afforded.
When I had in some degree satisfied my thirst, Augustus produced from his pocket three or four boiled potatoes, which I devoured with the greatest avidity.

He had brought with him a light in a dark lantern, and the grateful rays afforded me scarcely less comfort than the food and drink.

But I was impatient to learn the cause of his protracted absence, and he proceeded to recount what had happened on board during my incarceration..