We could only wave our hands as we passed; but
they could not return the salutation, and stood as if petrified with
horror, like statues fixed immovably to the earth, until we had
vanished from their sight.
"I have since seen and conversed with one of these unfortunate men,
who afterwards made his escape. He informed me that their removal
from the Jersey to the Island was productive of the most beneficial
effects upon their health, and that they had been exulting at the
improvement of their condition; but their terrible disappointment
overwhelmed them with despair. They then considered their fate
inevitable, believing that in a few days they must again be conveyed
on board the hulk; there to undergo all the agonies of a second
death. * * * Several of our crew were sick when we entered the Cartel,
and the sudden change of air and diet caused some new cases of
fever. One of our number, thus seized by the fever, was a young man
named Bicknell of Barrington, R. I. He was unwell when we left the
Jersey, and his symptoms indicated the approaching fever; and when we
entered Narragansett Bay, he was apparently dying. Being informed that
we were in the Bay he begged to be taken on deck, or at least to the
hatchway, that he might look once more upon his native land. He said
that he was sensible of his condition; that the hand of death was upon
him; but that he was consoled by the thought that he should be
decently interred, and be suffered to rest among his friends and
kindred.
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