15. The call and cry for water, came only to the ears of men; who were parching under the burning rays of the torrid sun (in the Deccan).
16. The hungry mob, hurrying to browse the branches and herbs, yielded their lives in those acts; while others sharpened their teeth, in their acts of tearing and devouring one another.
17. Some ran to bite the gum of catechu, thinking it to be a bit of flesh; while others were swallowing the stones, as if they were cakes lying on the ground before them.
18. The ground was sprinkled with blood, by the mutual biting and tearing of men; as when blood is spilt in profusion, by the lion’s killing a big and starving elephant.
19. Every one was as ferocious as a lion, in his attempt to devour another as his prey; and men mutually fought with one another, as wrestlers do in their contest.
20. The trees were leafless, and the hot winds were blowing as fire-brands on all sides; and wild cats were licking the human blood, that was spilt on the rocky ground.
21. The flame of the wild fire rose high in the air, with clouds of smoke whirling with the howling winds of the forest; it growled aloud in every place, and filled the forest-land with heaps of brown cinders and burning fire brands.
22. Huge serpents were burnt in their caves, and the fumes rising from these burning bodies, served to grow the poisonous plants on the spot; while the flame stretching aloft with the winds, gave the sky an appearance of the glory of the setting sun.
23. Heaps of ashes were lifted like dust, by the high howling winds, and stood as domes unsupported by pillars in the open sky; and the little children stood crying for fear of them, beside their weeping parents.
24. There were some men who tore a dead body with their teeth, and in their great haste to devour the flesh, bit their own hands and fingers, which were besmeared in their own blood.