Chapter XXVII

Of the state in which the ship was as she continued her voyage, and of the death of the hermit.

A list was made of the surviving sick, and each one was given, besides his ordinary ration, a plate of fritters helped out with honey and treacle, and in the afternoon a mug of water with a little sugar to help as sustenance. Those who were a little stronger had double rations to enable them to work at the pumps four times a day, at which they suffered fearfully, for some hid themselves, others sat down, and others stopped, saying they could not work. Night passed without being able to give rest from the evil that was so near, for its clamours and forced necessities were two things which it was not possible to remedy.

The sailors, from the hard work and their weakness, and from seeing the ship in such a state, set no store by their lives; and one of them said to the Chief Pilot that he was tired of being always tired, that he would rather die once than many times, and that they might as well shut their eyes and let the ship go to the bottom. They did not want to work, saying that neither God nor the King required them to do what was impossible. The men said they were without strength, and if one took another in his arms he was unable to hold him up. If they should die, who was there that could revive them? The Chief Pilot answered one of them that if he should jump overboard, the Devil would have him body and soul. Many others said that as he knew how to command, he should give them nourishment from the jars of wine, oil, and vinegar which the Governess had, or that it should be sold to them in exchange for their work; that they would give receipts and pay at Manilla, or make a return in kind. They said this was necessary for them in order to recover strength to work the ship, and that if they all died she would die also. When there was the greatest necessity for them, then they would show her needs and remember what had passed. The Chief Pilot submitted their prayer to the Governess several times during the voyage, saying it was much worse to die than not to expend stores. She said that there was more obligation to her than to the sailors who talked of her favour, and if two were hanged the rest would hold their tongues. The Chief Pilot answered that he only referred to the matter in order to apply a remedy to pressing needs, that the sailors were good men, that if he advocated their cause it was not for any obligation he owed to them, but that the ship might be taken where she herself wished, and that the obligation to please her did not relieve him from the duty of his office, the pay being equal to the debt. At last she served out two jars of oil; but they were soon used up, when the complaints were renewed and continued throughout the voyage.

The soldiers seeing so long a time before them (for no time is short to those who suffer) also said a good deal: that they would gladly exchange this life for a sentence of death in a prison, or for a place on a bench in a Turkish galley, where they might die confessed, or live in the hope of a victory or a ransom. Hope in God, whose power is greater than all our necessities, said one, for that will prove an armed voyage, and above poverty.

This death, which I hold to be a happy termination to a life of good works when received with meekness, was doing service to the Lord in calling, in good time, our dear Juan Leal, who went to his reward in heaven for the merits of what he had done on earth. He died alone and forsaken, like the rest. He was exemplary in his life and customs, he valued the world and its affairs for what they were worth, he went about dressed in sackcloth next to his skin, and reaching half down his legs, with bare feet, and long hair and beard. He had passed many years in this severe course of life, serving hospitals, after having previously served for many years as a soldier in Chile. On the same night a sick man fell overboard, it was not known how, crying out for help; but he was left and was no more seen.