102	TOBIAS SMOLLETT
upon pillows of purning primstone." Thomson, alarmed
at this apostrophe, made haste to the place where I
lay, and, sitting down by me, with tears in his eyes,
inquired into the nature of my calamity. By this time
I had recollected myself so far as to be able to converse
rationally with my friends, whom, to their great satis-
faction, I immediately undeceived with regard to their
apprehension of my being mortally wounded. After I
had got myself disengaged from the carnage in which
I wallowed, and partaken of a refreshment which my
friends brought along with them, we entered into dis-
course upon the hardships we sustained, and spoke
very freely of the authors of our misery; but our dis-
course being overheard by the sentinel who guarded
me, he was no sooner relieved than he reported to the
captain every syllable of our conversation, according to
the orders he had received.
The effect of this information soon appeared in the
arrival of the master at arms, who replaced Morgan
in his former station; and gave the second mate a
caution to keep a strict guard over his tongue, if he did
not choose to accompany us in our confinement. Thom-
son, foreseeing that the whole slavery of attending the
sick and wounded, as well as the cruelty of Mackshane,
must now fall on his shoulders, grew desperate at the
prospect; and, though I never heard him swear before,
imprecated dreadful curses on the heads of his oppressors,
declaring that he would rather quit life altogether than
be much longer under the power of such barbarians.
I was a little startled at his vivacity, and endeavoured
to alleviate his complaints by representing the subject