54 THE HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF [book iv.

human functions, in arms always, and prepared forcombat; by day exposed to the burning sun, and bynight to the cold damp; privations of all kind, fromthe blasts of gunpowder, smoke, dust, wildfire,iron, and stones,vollies of musketry, to explosions ofenormous batteries, insufficient nutriment or un-wholesome, they had got so disfigured, that theyhardly knew each other any more. Ashamed ofretiring for wounds not manifestly quite dangerousand almost mortal, those with the smaller bonesdislocated or shattered, and livid faces bruised withfrightful sores, or extremely lame and limpingwofully; these miserably bandaged round the head,arms in slings, strange contortions—such figureswere frequent and nearly general, and to be takenfor spectres rather than living forms.

Justly can it be averred that this was one ofthe most perilous, direst, crudest sieges in thememory of man; only as to food, some otherbesieged people have been still worse off. If herewas no drought or famine, it is to be put down tothe grand master’s praise, and his kind foresight;for if the commissaries had calculated well as toeating, they had miscalculated as to what isperhaps more important, the liquids; and the cis-terns were much sooner drunk dry than thought;so Yaletta at one time feared we should have been