SHIPWRECK OF THE MEDUSA. 309 
bre, threatened to cut off his hands if he again made the at- 
tempt. 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 oth'er boats, and tugged off with all 
his force. At the same instant every boat imitated the exe- 
crable 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 instant- 
ly perceived the treachery of the wretches who had left them 
so basely. Then 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 the rallying word, 
the oflicers 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 demand- 
ing assistance with the cries of Vive le Roi ; yet none were 
found sufliciently 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 lamenta- 
tions, 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 un- 
der 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 entan- 
gled among the cordage, and between the planks, bereaved 
tnem of the faculty of moving. Maddened by these misfor- 
