The New Hampshire Gazette Newspaper, June 30, 1758, Page 1

E Nevg-Hampihire ko - - ay, June 3o0. 1“75'8; Containing the Frefbcft Advices ConcLUsI10N of the Narrative begun in our lzfi. UCH was the condition of thefe unhappy people before the firft hour of their con- fipement was expired. By nine o'clock thirft had rendered the greater part of the : company outrageous ; mew efforts were made to force the door, and many atiempts werg made to provoke the guard to fire ia upon them, ~ and put an-end ta:their mifery, but without fuccels. < » {kins of water to be immediately brought. Till this In a fhort time, many perfons in the back part of the room were feized with a difficalty of breathing, and what was yet more dreadful, a delirium. The place was filled with incoherent ravings, paffionate exclamations, and cries of diftrefs, in the midit of which the cry of Water, Water, was predominant. This cry being heard by the Jemmautdaar who had been applied to by Mr. Holwell, he ordered fome time Mr. Holwell had remained quietly at the win- dow, where keeping his face between two of the bars, he fuffered but little pain or inconvenience ; hat he forefaw that the bringing water to that win- dow would create a ftrife and commotion amon thofe that were behind, which would probably haft- en their deftruttion ; and that then the whole croud bei. g drawn to prefs with one united cffort upon him, would either crufh him to -death, or compel . him to -abandon his fituation ; he therefore made - H ,-» many who were befare them. - » v - < . o ~ “teis -« - Y many attempts to forbid the bringing of - water, but the clamour was fo loud, that he was not regarded. The water appeared, but there was no other way of getting it into the prifon but by pouring it into hats, and then forcing them through the bars of the window. By this method all the people in the place, might eafily have been fupplied, but the impatience of the croud, few of whom were now under the go- vernment of their reafon, was fo great, that tho’ Mr. Holwell and the two wourded gentlemen who were in the window with him, brought hats full of water thro’ the grate with inceflant labour, as faft as they could be filled, yet much the greater part was fpilt in the conteft that immediately enfued, and be- fore it reached the lips of any of the competitors; there was not a fpoonful remaining. As thofe at the windows were by this means fill unfatisfied, thofe behind, to whom not a drop of water had yet reach- ed, became fraatic and furious beyond all concep- tion. Several quitted the other window, and forc- ing themfelves forward with others in the inner part of the room, threw down and trampled to death They now prefled fo hard apon Mr. Holwell and his friends, who re- ceived the water from the guard, that the two gen- tlemen who were wéunded; and who, notwithftand- ing their condition, had hitherto worked with him, were crufhed to death and he himfelf with his utmoft effort, could {carce fuftain the weight that prefled a- gainft him on every fide. ! This aggravation of their ‘diftrefs would have beet foon over, if the water that had been firlt or- dered i mercy; had not been continued for fport. The wretches who had been ordered to bring it by the Jemmautdaar, perceiving the ftruggle and com- mortion that it produced, took care to fupply itin great plenty s falt 2 it was wafted, that they might be entertgined by fecing it fought for ; and they held uplights% the bars, that they might lofe no part of their inhuman diveifion. As long as it was brought to the window it was necgffary for Mr. Holwell to hand it intothe prifon, and this labour he continced without refpite, from g o’clock till paft 11. The place around him was then firewed with his friends, who had been either fuffocated or prefled to death in the conflj&, and were trampled upon by every corporal and foot foldier who had ftrength enough to force his way to the window, andto whom he was obliged to hand water as they ftood on the dead bodies of his friends who had fallen a facrifice to impetuofity and delirium. "ill this timethey bad preferved fome deference for Mr. Holwell, as their chief bene@étor, bat all diftin&ion was now at an end, and not content with prefling round him, they laid hold oa the bars of the window over his head, and climbing up on his (houl- ders, he was fo prefled and wedged vp, that he was utterly unable to move, and found it impraéticable to keep his flation at the window any longer. He thercfore called out to them, and begged, as the laft inftance of regasd he fhould ever requeft, that they would remove the preflure that wis upon him, and permit him to retire out of the window, that he might die in quiet. There needed no argument to induce them to make way for him to quit a place which every one wifhed to fill in his ftead ; the peo- ple therefore that were next him gave way as far as they thought they could do it, without affording any advantage td thofe that were behind, and with muach difficulty he forced his way ittp the center of the prifon. The number of dead, which was now near one third, and the crowding &f thofe that {urvived to the windows, at both which there was ftill a {upply of water, left this part of the prifon comparatively empty ; but the air was {o patrid, a&d {o filled with a ftrong, urinous, volatile efflavia, that his refpiration became immediately difficult and painful. Under the eaft wall, oppofite the windows, there was a platform, being a continuation of that 'in the barracks, from which it was divided only by the north wall of the dungeon ;. it extended the whole length of the eaft,fide; it was raifed about 3 feet and an half from the ground, and was about fix feet wide. Tothe fartheft end of this platform, over againft the innermoft window, Mr. Holwell walked over the dead, with which the floor was now almoft entirely covered ; here he laid himfelf down, orra- ther leaned back againft fome dead bodies that were behind him, and determined in this pofture to wait for his diflolution : bat in about ten minutes he was feized with fo violent a pain in his breaft, and palpi- tation of the'heart, that he could no longer f{uffer them without attempting a relief, which he knew freth air alone could give him. There was now five ranks between him and the oppofite window, but his firength being doubled'by his defpair, he for- ced his way throagh three of them, and then feizing a bar of the window with one hand, he forced bim- {elf alfp through the fousrth, . ©othat iacre was then but one rank between him and the window. Ina few moments his pain and palpitation ceafed, but being now fcorched with the fame thirlt which thofe had fuffered who firft called for water, he forgot that he would then have prevented the bringing of i, and called out himfelf for water with the f{ame cla- morous impatience that the reft had done. The peopie who were next him, and nearly in the fame fituation as he was firft in at the other window, had preferved their prefence of mind, and in fome degiee their regard for him, as foon therefore as they heard him cry out © Water, for God’s {ake,” they joined in the cry, and called out, ¢ Give him water, give him water !' and when it was brought they would not touch it till he had drank. But tho’ by this a&t of generous kindnefs he had water in plenty, yet he found that his thirft was rather increafed than allay- ed, and therefore he would drink no more : howe- ver, to moiften his mouth, he fucked his fhirt fleeves, which were kept continually wet by excefiive per- fpiration, and found the expedient fucceed beyond his hopes.- He feems to think that the moifture which he thus drained out of the linen allayed that thirft which a conftant fupply of water rather increafed; but it is much more probable, that the afion of fucking contributed much more than the moifture thy wgs fucked, to remove the fenfation of burning thirft, by continually and gently prefling the falival glands, and thus furnifhing the mouth and throat with a confiderable degree of their nataral moifture ; for it can fcarce be doubted, but that if the moifture contained in the fhirt had been prefled out, and then fwallowed, it would have been found as ineffectual as the more pure and plentiful {upply from the fpring. Howevet, ashe was obferved to fuck his fhirt fleeve with great fatisfaltion by a young gentle- man who flood next him without a thirt, he began to fuck the fleeve that was next him, withoat con- fidering it asinvafion of property. But Mr. Hol- well, who in thefe circumftantes tho’t the man that 1obbed his fhirt of its moifture, did him little lefs in- jury thap if he had robbed his body of its blood, as foon as he difcovered the theft, took care to wor upon the fame fleeve till it was fufficiently drained, and then had recourfe to the other. It was not yet 12 o’clock, and all that furvived, except a few at the windows, were in the highelt degree ungovernable and outrageous ; as they found no relief from water, they now called out for air, but air could not be procured. Every infult that Nuwms. 9I. GAZETTE. Foreign and Domeflick. conld be devifed was inceffantly repeated to pro- voke the guards to fire into the prifon, but withoat effe®. boon after the general tumult and wproar fubfided at once, and the greater part of thefe who were then living, the laft remains of vital ftrength being exhaufted, iay down and expired quietly on the dead. Some, however, there were, who made the fame defperate and vigorous attempt to fupplant Mr. Holwell, as he had juft made to fupplant others, and with the {fame fuccefs. A heavy man, who had found means to feize on the bars over his head, prel- fed him almoft with his whole weight ; a Dutch ferjeant having climbed over feveral others,fupporied himfelf on one of his fhoulders, and a black {oldier bore very hard upon the other. Self-defence is al- ways lawful, and Mr. Holwell finding it impofiible | to fuftain this load and live, often difengaged him- felf from the poor ferjeant and foldier by fhifting his hold on the bars, and thrufting his knuckles into their ribs, but the man that hung over him by the bar, he found it utterly impoflible to diflodge. Having {uffered this preflure from half an hour after 11 till near 2 in the morning, his fpirits {unk, and his rea- fon began to forfake him ; he found it impofiible to keep'his ftatiop, and he could not bear the thoughts of retiring again to the inner part of the prifon. In this dilemma he drew a clafp knife from his pocket, intending to put an end to his mifery at once, but his refolution failing, or his reafon once more gain- ing the afcendant over his paflion, he put it up, and being determined to quit the window, at all events, his burthen being abfolutely infupportable, he told Mr. Carey, who, with his wife, was in the rank be- hind him, his intention, and advifed him to make an attempt to get into his place. Poor Carey exprefl- ed great thankfulnefs for the offer of what Mr. Hol-, well could not keep, but though he made the at- tempt to fucceed him, he was fupplanted by the Datch ferjeait, who has been jult mentioned. Mr.Holwell, whom Carey aflifted in getting thro’ the prefs that was about the window, wert forward among the inner ranks towards the fouth wail of the prifon, where he laid himfelf down with Carey, and once more refigned himfelf to death. Carey died in a very few minutes, and he felt a ftupor come on very faft, tho’ he was fenfible of no pain, and but little uneafinefs, of any kind. Before he quite loft his recolleétion, he refletted, that if the died where he lay, he fhould be trampied upon as he had tramp- led upon others. * Thisthought, however whimfi- calor {uperftitious, gave him fome pain ; he there- fore got up once more, and with {fome difficulty reached the platform afecond time, wher€ he foon alter loft all fenfibility ; the lalt thing to which he was confcious was an unealy fenfation about his waift, fappofed to be caufed by his fafh, which he therefore united and threw from him. ! There is no particular account of what happened from this time till day break, but it may reafonably be fuppofed, that it was only a continuation of the {ame {céne of ftrife and diftrefs. When the morn- ing dawned, which was about 5 o’clock, no entreaty having yet prevailed to get the door open, orie of the company thought of feeking for Mr. Holwell, hoping that now the night was paft his influence night procure their enlargement. Two of the company undertook the fearch, and after fome time found him by his fhirt, under the bodies of feveral that had died and fallen upon him after he became infenfible. As he appeared to have fome figns of life, they carried him to the window next the deor, where there was now no longer fo formidable a prefs, only 23 of 146 being alive, and many of them una- ble to ftand. The window ifelf, however, was itill full, and the flench of the dead bodies being grown intolerable, nobody would refign his flation in {avour of another ; h® was therefore carried back a- gain, and once more depofited upon the platform. Bwr foon after, 2 gentleman, whofe name is Mills, and who is now captain of the company’s yatcht, ha- ving a feat in the window, geperoufly offered to give it dp for the common good, and Mr. Holwell was again brought forward, and placed in the feat which Mr. Mills had refigned. 4 Aboat this time the viceroy had received an ac- ¢count of the havock that death had made among the prifoners, but inftead of fending inftantly to preferve the few that remained, he coldly ordered an enquiry to be made whether the chief was among the Livieg or