1832.] The Galley Slaves. 545 



exercise. They are thus fettered together till they reach Brest or Toulon. 

 The choice is left to them of walking or being carried in carts, more pro- 

 vender being given to those who make the journey on foot. 



The only part of their habiliments, which seemed left to themselves to 

 provide, was a covering for the head, the red or green cap being given 

 them only upon entering the bagne. For their journey, some of the fellows 

 had provided themselves with strange head-gear, mostly made of straw ; 

 one had a three-cocked hat ; others, one of all kinds of outre" shapes. A 

 prime vagabond had woven for himself a complete and magnificent tiara, 

 precisely like the Roman Pontiff's in form, and surmounted by a cross. 

 This was the Pope, the Pope of the Chaine, and I never heard a shout so 

 appalling, as that with which his appearance was welcomed by the pri- 

 soners from the windows of the building. They danced, they yelled, tore 

 and tumbled over each other in the most exuberant delight, thrusting 

 their crowded heads and distorted features almost through the gratings. 

 I have gleaned from it quite an idea of a scene of merriment and exulta- 

 tion below. 



The said Pope was a very extraordinary fellow: a slight fair form, 

 pointed features, and eyes that were penetrating, despite their common 

 shade of grey. He was called Champenois, his real name unknown, not 

 more than three-and-twenty, and the Lieutenant of the Chaine said, one of 

 the most talented and extraordinary characters that he had ever met with. 

 He had been the prime mover of the intended insurrection, but with- 

 out a proof against him, except his universal authority, unusual in so 

 young a thief. His physiognomy was one, which it required not a second 

 look in order to remember for ever. 



Another figure struck me, not so much as singular in itself, as in con- 

 trast with those around. It struck me as that of an English cabin-boy, 

 a pale, freckled, ill-conditioned lad. On following the calling over of 

 the register in roll, I found my conjecture too true. He was an unfor- 

 tunate young sailor, a native of England, guilty of some misdemeanour, 

 and by name Aikin. He understood not a word of French, but protested 

 with a shake of his head against his being English j patriotism had in him 

 outlived honesty and self-respect. I spoke to him in English : he wept, 

 but would not reply, puckering up his poor lips in all the agony of his 

 desolate condition. I was glad to remark the humanity with which he had 

 been chained to a prisoner, pensive and downcast like himself. 



There were some cases certainly hard j one or two for resisting the 

 gen-d?armerie in a riot at Rouen. To transport a rioter, unless under 

 aggravated circumstances, is grievous enough -, but after the revolution 

 of July, that hallowed riot, to make a galley-slave of a brave for 

 resisting the police, must have been at least surprising to him. The tri- 

 bunal no doubt felt the necessity of severity 5 and; we acknowledged it all 

 in deploring the degradation of these poor devils for an act, which in so 

 many thousand others was, at the moment, extolled to the skies as the 

 acm6 of heroism. But justice hath her lottery- wheel as well as fortune. 



As the last chaine was completing, an ecclesiastic went round to collect 

 money of the visitors. But as there were few, so were the offerings. 

 The convicts at the same time produced the fruits of their ingenuity in 

 straw work-boxes, needle-cases, carved ivory and wood. The guardians, 

 to do them justice, seemed humane. The lieutenant of the chaine 

 himself could not have been the ruffian, such as Vidocq represents the 



