I have
known children in the remote districts of the parish, and in the
neighbourhood of the town, too, live, some of them for two, some three,
and some of them for _four days on water_! On the sea shore, or
convenient to it, the people are more fortunate, as they can get
_seaweed_, which, when boiled and mixed with a little Indian corn, or
wheaten meal, they eat, and thank Providence for providing them with
even that, to allay the cravings of hunger."
Although the writer of the above letter says, and with reason it would
seem, that the holding of any more inquests at Bantry was useless; the
very week after it was written, a batch of inquests were held there, one
of which bids fair to be, for a long time, famous, on account of the
verdict returned. There were forty deaths, but from some cause, perhaps
for want of time, there were only fifteen inquests. A respectable jury
having been sworn, the first of these was upon a man named John
Sullivan. One of the witnesses in the case said a messenger came and
announced to him that a man was lying on the old road in a bad state.
Witness proceeded to the place, but, in the first instance, alone;
finding the man still alive, he returned for help to remove him.
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