DEPARTURE OF THE BOATS--THEY SEEM DESIROUS OF TOWING THE
RAFT--GENEROUS CONDUCT OF A NAVAL OFFICER--THE ABANDONMENT OF THE
RAFT--DESPAIR OF THE WRETCHES WHO ARE LEFT TO THE FURY OF THE
WAVES--REPROACHES OF M. PICARD TO THE AUTHORS OF THE ABANDONING
THE RAFT--DESCRIPTION OF THE SMALL FLEET WHICH THE BOATS
FORMED--FRIGHTFUL FATE, AND DEPLORABLE END OF THE GREATER PART OF
THE INDIVIDUALS ON THE RAFT.
All the boats were already far from the Medusa, when they were brought
to, to form a chain in order to tow the raft. The barge, in which was
the governor of Senegal, took the first tow, then all the other boats in
succession joined themselves to that. M. Lachaumareys embarked, although
there yet remained upon the Medusa more than sixty persons. Then the
brave and generous M. Espiau, commander of the shallop, quitted the line
of boats, and returned to the frigate, with the intention of saving all
the wretches who had been abandoned. They all sprung into the shallop;
but as it was very much overloaded, seventeen unfortunates preferred
remaining on board, rather than expose themselves as well as their
companions to certain death. But, alas! the greater part afterwards fell
victims to their fears or their devotion. Fifty-two days after they were
abandoned, no more than three of them were alive, and these looked more
like skeletons than men. They told that their miserable companions had
gone afloat upon planks and hen-coops, after having waited in vain
forty-two days for the succour which had been promised them, and that
all had perished.[4]
[Footnote 4: Two, out of the three wretches who were saved from
the wrecks of the Medusa, died a few days after their arrival at
the colony; and the third, who pretended to know a great many
particulars relative to the desertion of the frigate, was
assassinated in his bed at Senegal, when he was just upon the eve
of setting off for France. The authorities could not discover the
murderer, who had taken good care to flee from his victim after
having killed him.]
The shallop, carrying with difficulty all those she had saved from the
Medusa, slowly rejoined the line of boats which towed the raft. M.
Espiau earnestly besought the officers of the other boats to take some
of them along with them; but they refused, alleging to the generous
officer that he ought to keep them in his own boat, as he had gone for
them himself. M. Espiau, finding it impossible to keep them all without
exposing them to the utmost peril, steered right for a boat which I will
not name. Immediately a sailor sprung from the shallop into the sea, and
endeavoured to reach it by swimming; and when he was about to enter it,
an officer who possessed great influence, pushed him back, and, drawing
his sabre, threatened to cut off his hands, if he again made the
attempt. The poor wretch regained the shallop, which was very near the
pinnace, where we were. Various friends of my father supplicated M.
Laperere, the officer of our boat, to receive him on board. My father
had his arms already out to catch him, when M. Laperere instantly let go
the rope which attached us to the other boats, and tugged off with all
his force. At the same instant every boat imitated our execrable
example; and wishing to shun the approach of the shallop, which sought
for assistance, stood off from the raft, abandoning in the midst of the
ocean, and to the fury of the waves, the miserable mortals whom they had
sworn to land on the shores of the Desert.
Scarcely had these cowards broken their oath, when we saw the French
flag flying upon the raft. The confidence of these unfortunate persons
was so great, that when they saw the first boat which had the tow
removing from them, they all cried out, the rope is broken! the rope is
broken! but when no attention was paid to their observation they
instantly perceived the treachery of the wretches who had left them so
basely. Then the cries of _Vive le Roi_ arose from the raft, as if the
poor fellows were calling to their father for assistance; or, as if they
had been persuaded that, at that rallying word, the officers of the
boats would return, and not abandon their countrymen. The officers
repeated the cry of _Vive le Roi_, without a doubt, to insult them; but,
more particularly, M. Lachaumareys, who, assuming a martial attitude,
waved his hat in the air. Alas! what availed these false professions?
Frenchmen, menaced with the greatest peril, were demanding assistance
with the cries of _Vive le Roi_; yet none were found sufficiently
generous, nor sufficiently French, to go to aid them. After a silence
of some minutes, horrible cries were heard; the air resounded with the
groans, the lamentations, the imprecations of these wretched beings, and
the echo of the sea frequently repeated, Alas! how cruel you are to
abandon us!!! The raft already appeared to be buried under the waves,
and its unfortunate passengers immersed. The fatal machine was drifted
by currents far behind the wreck of the Frigate; without cable, anchor,
mast, sail, oars; in a word, without the smallest means of enabling them
to save themselves. Each wave that struck it, made them stumble in heaps
on one another. Their feet getting entangled among the cordage, and
between the planks, bereaved them of the faculty of moving. Maddened by
these misfortunes, suspended, and adrift upon a merciless ocean, they
were soon tortured between the pieces of wood which formed the scaffold
on which they floated. The bones of their feet and their legs were
bruized and broken, every time the fury of the waves agitated the raft;
their flesh covered with contusions and hideous wounds, dissolved, as it
were, in the briny waves, whilst the roaring flood around them was
coloured with their blood.
As the raft, when it was abandoned, was nearly two leagues from the
frigate, it was impossible these unfortunate persons could return to it:
they were soon after far out at sea. These victims still appeared above
their floating tomb; and, stretching out their supplicating hands
towards the boats which fled from them, seemed yet to invoke, for the
last time, the names of the wretches who had deceived them. O horrid
day! a day of shame and reproach! Alas! that the hearts of those who
were so well acquainted with misfortune, should have been so
inaccessible to pity!
After witnessing that most inhuman scene, and seeing they were
insensible to the cries and lamentations of so many unhappy beings, I
felt my heart bursting with sorrow. It seemed to me that the waves would
overwhelm all these wretches, and I could not suppress my tears. My
father, exasperated to excess, and bursting with rage at seeing so much
cowardice and inhumanity among the officers of the boats, began to
regret he had not accepted the place which had been assigned for us upon
the fatal raft. "At least," said he, "we would have died with the brave,
or we would have returned to the wreck of the Medusa; and not have had
the disgrace of saving ourselves with cowards." Although this produced
no effect upon the officers, it proved very fatal to us afterwards; for,
on our arrival at Senegal, it was reported to the Governor, and very
probably was the principal cause of all those evils and vexations which
we endured in that colony.
Let us now turn our attention to the several situations of all those who
were endeavouring to save themselves in the different boats, as well as
to those left upon the wreck of the Medusa.
We have already seen, that the frigate was half sunk when it was
deserted, presenting nothing but a hulk and wreck. Nevertheless,
seventeen still remained upon it, and had food, which, although damaged,
enabled them to support themselves for a considerable time; whilst the
raft was abandoned to float at the mercy of the waves, upon the vast
surface of the ocean. One hundred and fifty wretches were embarked upon
it, sunk to the depth of at least three feet on its fore part, and on
its poop immersed even to the middle. What victuals they had were soon
consumed, or spoiled by the salt water; and perhaps some, as the waves
hurried them along, became food for the monsters of the deep. Two only
of all the boats which left the Medusa, and these with very few people
in them, were provisioned with every necessary; these struck off with
security and despatch. But the condition of those who were in the
shallop was but little better than those upon the raft; their great
number, their scarcity of provisions, their great distance from the
shore, gave them the most melancholy anticipations of the future. Their
worthy commander, M. Espiau, had no other hope but of reaching the shore
as soon as possible. The other boats were less filled with people, but
they were scarcely better provisioned; and, as by a species of fatality,
the pinnace, in which were our family, was destitute of every thing. Our
provisions consisted of a barrel of biscuit, and a tierce of water; and,
to add to our misfortunes, the biscuit being soaked in the sea, it was
almost impossible to swallow one morsel of it. Each passenger in our
boat was obliged to sustain his wretched existence with a glass of
water, which he could get only once a day. To tell how this happened,
how this boat was so poorly supplied, whilst there were abundance left
upon the Medusa, is far beyond my power. But it is at least certain,
that the greater part of the officers commanding the boats, the Shallop,
the pinnace, the Senegal boat, and the yawl, were persuaded, when they
quitted the frigate, that they would not abandon the raft, but that all
the expedition would sail together to the coast of Sahara; that when
there, the boats would be again sent to the Medusa to take provisions,
arms, and those who were left there; but it appears the chiefs had
decided otherwise.
After abandoning the raft, although scattered, all the boats formed a
little fleet, and followed the same route. All who were sincere hoped to
arrive the same day at the coast of the Desert, and that every one would
get on shore; but MM. Schmaltz and Lachaumareys gave orders to take the
route for Senegal. This sudden change in the resolutions of the chiefs
was like a thunderbolt to the officers commanding the boats. Having
nothing on board but what was barely necessary to enable us to allay the
cravings of hunger for one day, we were all sensibly affected. The other
boats, which, like ourselves, hoped to have got on shore at the nearest
point, were a little better provisioned than we were; they had at least
a little wine, which supplied the place of other necessaries. We then
demanded some from them, explaining our situation, but none would assist
us, not even Captain Lachaumareys, who, drinking to a kept mistress,
supported by two sailors, swore he had not one drop on board. We were
next desirous of addressing the boat of the Governor of Senegal, where
we were persuaded were plenty of provisions of every kind, such as
oranges, biscuits, cakes, comfits, plumbs, and even the finest liqueurs;
but my father opposed it, so well was he assured we would not obtain any
thing.
We will now turn to the condition of those on the raft, when the boats
left them to themselves.
If all the boats had continued dragging the raft forward, favoured as
we were by the breeze from the sea, we would have been able to have
conducted them to the shore in less than two days. But an inconceivable
fatality caused the generous plan to be abandoned which had been formed.
When the raft had lost sight of the boats, a spirit of sedition began to
manifest itself in furious cries. They then began to regard one another
with ferocious looks, and to thirst for one another's flesh. Some one
had already whispered of having recourse to that monstrous extremity,
and of commencing with the fattest and youngest. A proposition so
atrocious filled the brave Captain Dupont and his worthy lieutenant M.
L'Heureux with horror; and that courage which had so often supported
them in the field of glory, now forsook them.
Among the first who fell under the hatchets of the assassins, was a
young woman who had been seen devouring the body of her husband. When
her turn was come, she sought a little wine as a last favour, then rose,
and without uttering one word, threw herself into the sea. Captain
Dupont being proscribed for having refused to partake of the
sacrilegious viands with which the monsters were feeding on, was saved
as by a miracle from the hands of the butchers. Scarcely had they seized
him to lead him to the slaughter, when a large pole, which served in
place of a mast, fell upon his body; and believing that his legs were
broken, they contented themselves by throwing him into the sea. The
unfortunate captain plunged, disappeared, and they thought him already
in another world.
Providence, however, revived the strength of the unfortunate warrior.
He emerged under the beams of the raft, and clinging with all his might,
holding his head above water, he remained between two enormous pieces of
wood, whilst the rest of his body was hid in the sea. After more than
two hours of suffering, Captain Dupont spoke in a low voice to his
lieutenant, who by chance was seated near the place of his concealment.
The brave L'Heureux, with eyes glistening with tears, believed he heard
the voice, and saw the shade of his captain; and trembling, was about to
quit the place of horror; but, O wonderful! he saw a head which seemed
to draw its last sigh, he recognised it, he embraced it, alas! it was
his dear friend! Dupont was instantly drawn from the water, and M.
L'Heureux obtained for his unfortunate comrade again a place upon the
raft. Those who had been most inveterate against him, touched at what
Providence had done for him in so miraculous a manner, decided with one
accord to allow him entire liberty upon the raft.
The sixty unfortunates who had escaped from the first massacre, were
soon reduced to fifty, then to forty, and at last to twenty-eight. The
least murmur, or the smallest complaint, at the moment of distributing
the provisions, was a crime punished with immediate death. In
consequence of such a regulation, it may easily be presumed the raft was
soon lightened. In the meanwhile the wine diminished sensibly, and the
half rations very much displeased a certain chief of the conspiracy. On
purpose to avoid being reduced to that extremity, the _executive power_
decided it was much wiser to _drown thirteen people_, and to get full
rations, than that twenty-eight should have half rations. Merciful
Heaven! what shame! After the last catastrophe, the chiefs of the
conspiracy, fearing doubtless of being assassinated in their turn, threw
all the arms into the sea, and swore an inviolable friendship with the
heroes which the hatchet had spared. On the 17th of July, in the
morning, Captain Parnajon, commandant of the Argus brig, still found
fifteen men on the raft. They were immediately taken on board, and
conducted to Senegal. Four of the fifteen are yet alive, viz. Captain
Dupont, residing in the neighbourhood of Maintenon, Lieutenant
L'Heureux, since Captain, at Senegal, Savigny, at Rochefort, and
Correard, I know not where.