Therewaslittlechanceforanyonetoaccumulatefleshontherationswewerereceiving。IsayitinallsobernessthatIdonotbelievethatahealthyhencouldhavegrownfatuponthem。Iamsurethatanygood—
sized\"shanghai\"eatsmoreeverydaythanthemeagerhalfloafthatwehadtomaintainlifeupon。Scantyasthiswas,andhungryasallwere,verymanycouldnoteatit。Theirstomachsrevoltedagainstthetrash;
itbecamesonauseoustothemthattheycouldnotforceitdown,evenwhenfamishing,andtheydiedofstarvationwiththechunksoftheso—
calledbreadundertheirhead。Ifoundmyselfrapidlyapproachingthiscondition。Ihadbeenblessedwithagooddigestionandatalentforsleepingunderthemostdiscouragingcircumstances。These,Ihavenodoubt,wereofthegreatestassistancetomeinmystruggleforexistence。Butnowtherationsbecamefearfullyobnoxioustome,anditwasonlywiththegreatesteffort——pullingthebreadintolittlepiecesandswallowingeach,oftheseasonewouldapill——thatIsucceededinworryingthestuffdown。Ihadnotasyetfallenawayverymuch,butasIhadnever,up,tothattime,weighedsomuchasonehundredandtwenty—
fivepounds,therewasnogreatamountofadiposetolose。Itwasevidentthatunlesssomechangeoccurredmytimewasnearathand。