Polynesian., 1845-04-26

STARVING TO DEAru.-We find in Kcndall's
"Santa Fc Expedition,' the following powerful de-
scription of the agoni2ing sensations experienced by
persons when starving to death:
81 have never yet seen q treatise or dis
sertatlon upon starving to death; ] can speak
Jeeiingly ofnearly every stage except the last.
For the first two days through which a strong
and healthy man is doomed to exist upon no
thing, his suilerings are, perhaps, more acute
than IN the remaining stages; he feels an in
ordinate, unappeasabIe craving at the stom-
ach, night and day. The mind run. upon
beef, bread, and other substantials; but still.
IN a great measure, the body retains its
strength. On the third and fourth DAYS, but
especially on the fourth, this incessant cray
ing gives place to a sinking and weakness of
the stomach, accompanied by nausea. The
unfortunate sufferer still desires food: but
with less of strength he loses that eager cray
ing which is felt in the earlier starcs.
Should he chance to obtain a morsel or two
OF food, as was occasionally the case with us.
he swallows 1t with a wollish avidity; but five
minutes afterwards his sulierings are more
intense than ever. He feels as if he had
swallowed a living lobster, which is clawing
and feeding upon the very foundation of his
existence. On the fifth day his checks sud-
denly appear hollow and sunkcn, his body
attcnuated, his color an ashy pale, and his
eye wild, CLASSY, cannlblish. The different
parts OF the system now war with each other.
The stomach calls upon the legs to 90 with
it in quest of food; the legs, from very weak
ness, refuse. The sixth day brings with il
increased suffering, although the pangs Of
hunger are lost in an overpowcrinr l~anquor
and sickness. The head becomes giddy.
the ghosts OF wcil-remcmbcrad dinners PASS
in hideous procession through the mind. The
seventh day comes, bringing increased lassi-
tude and father prostration OF strength. The
arms hang li~stlessly, the legs drag heavily.
The desire for food is still left, to a degree.
but it must be brought, not sought. The
miserable remnant of life which still HANGS
to the sufferer is a burden almost too priey-
Gus to be borne; yet his inherent love Of cx-
istence induces a desire still to preserve it, if
it can be saved without a tax upon bodily OK.
c%rtion. The mind wanders. At one mo-
ment he thinks his weary limbs cannot sustain
him a mIle-the next, he is endowed with
unnatural strength, and ifthere be a certainty
OF reilot before him, dashcs bravely and
strongly onward, wondering whence pro-
ceeds this new and sudden impulse.
Farther than this, my experience rnnnc,h
not. The reader may think | have drawn a
fancy sketch-that | have colorod the pic
turc too highly now, while | sincerely trust
he may never be in a situation to test lis truth
from actual experience, ! would in all sober
seriousness say to him, that many ofthe SEN
sations have just described, | have myself
experienced, and so did the ninety and eight
persons who were with ne from the time
when we first entered the grand prairie until
WIS reached the flock Of sheep, to which more
pleasing subject | will now return"
To SHAVE, OR Nor TO uAvE? THAT ~