ESCAPE OF THE REPUBLICAN EXILES. 127 



and that lie had packets from their friends and 

 families on board, hid in one of his barrels, which 

 were now however beyond his reach, though undis- 

 covered by their captors." He had no idea of being 

 the object of any of the French privateers, and had 

 suffered his ship to fall to leeward of Cayenne, in 

 order to have an excuse for anchoring in the road of 

 Sinamary, from which he might communicate with 

 them, and enable them to escape. The captain fur- 

 ther told them the European news : of the treaty of 

 Campo Formio, and of the unprovoked invasion of 

 Switzerland. This last piece of intelligence, per- 

 fectly a la Republique as it Avas, roused all their 

 virtuous indignation ; and Barthelemy, in particular, 

 who had participated in the whole Republican game 

 as long as he was allowed, was thrown into a par- 

 oxysm of attitude and oratory at the infamous nov- 

 elty of robbing and slaughtering helpless nations. 



They took the captain out upon the rampart, and 

 showed him the canoe ; the sailor shook his head at 

 this diminutive object, and told them that " it would 

 not do ; that they must certainly go to the bottom 

 if they attempted their exploit in that bark ; that it 

 could not hold them all, nor carry them to Surinam." 

 They declared in turn that something or other they 

 must do, and that speedily ; and that, if they must 

 go to the bottom, they would prefer it to the tortur- 

 ing and lingering death of Du Coudray and Laffond. 

 The conference ended by the captain's promising to 



