332 SHIPWRECK OF THE MEDUSA. 
asleep, and, after having examined her form, raised the cover- 
ing- which concealed her bosom, gazing awhile like one aston- 
ished, at length dreAv near, but durst not touch her. Then, 
after having looked a long while, he replaced the covering, 
and, returning to his companions, related in a joyous manner 
what he had seen. Several Frenchmen having observed the 
proceedings of the Moor, told M. Picard, who, after the obli- 
ging offers of the officers, decided in clothing the rest of the 
ladies in the military dress, on purpose to prevent their being 
annoyed by the attentions of the inhabitants of the desert. 
Mighty well ! I beg pardon of MM. Correard and Savigny, 
but there is not one word of tiTith in all this. How could 
these gentlemen see from the raft, that which passed during 
the 12th of July, on the shores of the desert of Sahara? 
And supposing that this was reported to them by some one of 
our caravan, and inserted in their work, which contains va- 
rious inaccuracies, I have to inform them they have been de- 
ceived. 
About three in the morning, a north-west wind having 
sprung up, and a little refreshed us, our caravan continued its 
route, our generous Englishman again taking the task of 
procuring us provisions. At four o'clock the sky became 
overcast, and we heard thunder in the distance. We all ex- 
pected a great tempest, which happily did not take place. 
Near seven we reached the spot where we were to wait for 
Mr. Garnet, who came to us with a bullock he had purchased. 
Then quitting the shore, we went into the interior to seek a 
place to cook our supper. We fixed our camp beside a small 
wood of acacias, near to v/hich were several wells or cisterns 
of fresh water. Our ox was instantly killed, skinned, cut to 
pieces, and distributed. A large fire was kindled, and each 
was occupied in dressing his meal. At this time 1 caught a 
smart fever; notwithstanding, I could not help laughing at see- 
ing every one seated round a large fire holding his piece of 
beef on the point of a bayonet, a sabre, or some sharp-point- 
ed stick. The flickering of the flames on the different faces, 
sunburned and covered with long beards, rendered more visi- 
ble by the darkness of the night, joined to the noise of the 
waves and the roaring of ferocious beasts which we heard in 
the distance, presented a spectacle at once laughable and im- 
posing. If a David or a Girodet had seen us, said I to my- 
self, we would soon have been represented on canvass, in the 
galleries of the Louvre, as real cannibals ; and the Parisian 
youth, who know not what pleasure it is to devour a handful 
