noon
Rogers had died about eleven in the forenoon , in violent convulsions ; and the corpse presented in a few minutes after death one of the most horrid and loathsome spectacles I ever remember to have seen . The stomach was swollen immensely , like that of a man who has been drowned and lain under water for many weeks . The hands were in the same condition , while the face was shrunken , shrivelled , and of a chalky whiteness , except where relieved by two or three glaring red blotches like those occasioned by the erysipelas : one of these blotches extended diagonally across the face , completely covering up an eye as if with a band of red velvet . In this disgusting condition the body had been brought up from the cabin at noon to be thrown overboard , when the mate getting a glimpse of it -LRB- for he now saw it for the first time -RRB- , and being either touched with remorse for his crime or struck with terror at so horrible a sight , ordered the men to sew the body up in its hammock , and allow it the usual rites of sea-burial . Having given these directions , he went below , as if to avoid any further sight of his victim . While preparations were making to obey his orders , the gale came on with great fury , and the design was abandoned for the present . The corpse , left to itself , was washed into the larboard scuppers , where it still lay at the time of which I speak , floundering about with the furious lurches of the brig. Having arranged our plan , we set about putting it in execution as speedily as possible .