From April till the end
of July this continued, the condition of the besieged daily growing
worse, the food-supply daily growing less. Such was the state of affairs
at the date with which we are specially concerned.
Inside the town, at that date, the destitution had grown heart-rending.
The fire of the enemy was kept up more briskly than ever, but famine and
disease killed more than cannon-balls. The soldiers of the garrison
were so weak from privation that they could scarcely stand; yet they
repelled every attack, and repaired every breach in the walls as fast as
made. The damage done by day was made good at night. For the garrison
there remained a small supply of grain, which was given out by
mouthfuls, and there was besides a considerable store of salted hides,
which they gnawed for lack of better food. The stock of animals had been
reduced to nine horses, and these so lean and gaunt that it seemed
useless to kill them for food.
The townsmen were obliged to feed on dogs and rats, an occasional small
fish caught in the river, and similar sparse supplies. They died by
hundreds. Disease aided starvation in carrying them off. The living were
too few and too weak to bury the dead. Bodies were left unburied, and a
deadly and revolting stench filled the air.
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