Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/118



house of  death  beneath  the  snow."  There  were  chil- dren wallowing  in  their  filth,  and  moaning  for  food, that  had  so  lain,  undisturbed,  for  fourteen  days.

Jacob Donner  was  dead. Baptiste had  just  left  the camp of  the  widow  with  the  leg  and  thigh  of  the  dead man, "  for  which  he  had  been  sent  by  George  Donner, the  brother  of  the  deceased.  That  was  given,  but  the boy  was  informed  that  no  more  could  be  given,  Jacob Donner's  body  being  the  last  they  had.  They  had consumed  four  bodies,  and  the  children  were  sitting upon  a  log,  with  their  faces  stained  with  blood,  de- vouring the  half-roasted  liver  and  heart  of  the  father, unconscious  of  the  approach  of  the  men,  of  whom  they took  not  the  slightest  notice  even  after  they  had  come up.  Mrs  Jacob  Donner  was  in  a  helpless  condition, without  anything  whatever  to  eat  except  the  body  of her  husband,  and  she  declared  she  would  die  before she  would  eat  of  this.  Around  the  fire  were  hair, bones,  skulls,  and  the  fragments  of  half-consumed limbs."

The relief  party  under  Foster  and  Eddy  was  the next to  enter. Eddy found  his  wife  and  children  all dead. '^Patrick Breen  and  his  wife  seemed  not  in any  degree  to  realize  the  extent  of  their  peril,  or  that they were  in  peril  at  all. They were  found  lying down, sunning  themselves,  and  evincing  no  concern for the  future. They had  consumed  the  two  children of Jacob  Donner."  The  wickedest  man  of  all  was Kiesburg,  the  same  who  so  cruelly  thrust  the  old  man from  his  wagon.  While  there  were  yet  hides  enough to  sustain  life,  and  a  dead  •  bullock  uncovered  by  the melting  snow  on  which  the  others  lived,  he  took  to bed  with  him  one  night  Foster's  little  four-year-old boy,  and  devoured  him  before  morning.  "What  adds, if possible,  to  the  horrors  of  this  horrible  meal  is  the fact that  the  child  was  alive  when  it  was  taken  to bed,  leading  to  the  suspicion  that  he  strangled  it,  al- though he denies  this  charge. This man  also  devoured Mr Eddy's  child  before  noon  the  next  day,