376 SHIPWRECK OF THE MEDUSA. 
he was satisfied, and waited till the morrow to go and see if 
his brother was at school. This young victim to misery drag- 
ged out his melancholy existence during two months ; and 
about the end of October we had the misfortune of losing 
him also. 
This last blow plunged me into a gloomy melancholy. I 
was indifferent to every thing. I had seen in three months 
nearly all my relations die, A young orphan, (Alphonso 
Fleury,) our cousin, aged five years, to whom my father was 
tutor, and whom he had always considered as his own cPiild^ 
my sister Caroline, and myself, were all that remained of the 
unfortunate Picard family, who, on setting out for Africa, con- 
sisted of nine. We, too, had nearly followed our dear parents 
to the grave. Our friends, however, by their great care and 
attention, got us by degrees to recover our composure, and 
chased from our thoughts the cruel recollections which afflict- 
ed us. We recovered our tranquillity, and dared at last to che- 
rish the hope of seeing more fortunate days. That hope was 
not delusive. Our benefactor, M. Dard, since then having 
become my husband, gathered together the wrecks of our 
wretched family, and has proved himself worthy of being a 
father to us. My sister Caroline afterward married M. Richard, 
agricultural botanist, attached to the agricultural establish- 
ment of the colony. 
Leaving Senegal with my husband and the young Alphonso 
Fleury, my cousin, on board his majesty's ship Menagere, on 
the 18th of November, 1820, we safely arrived at L' Orient 
on the 31st December following. A few days after our land- 
ing we went to Paris, where we remained two months. At 
last we reached my husband's native place, at Bligny-so^is- 
Beaune, in the department of the Cote d'Or, where I have had 
the happiness of finding new relations, whose tender friend- 
ship consoles me in part for the loss of those of whom cruel 
death deprived me in Africa. 
The following is the substance, abridged from MM. Cor- 
reard and Savigny, of what took place on the raft during 
thirteen days before the sufferers were taken up by the Ar- 
gus brig. 
After the boats had disappeared, the consternation became 
extreme. All the horrors of thirst and famine passed before 
our imaginations ; beside, we had to contend with a treache- 
rous element, which already covered the half of our bodies. 
The deep stupor of the soldiers and sailors instantly changed 
