SHIPWRECK or THE MEDtSA. 379 
another at each movement of the raft. M. Savigny, second- 
ed by some people who still preserved their presence of mind 
amidst the disorder, stretched cords across the raft, by which 
the men held, and were better able to resist the swell of the 
sea ; some were even obliged to fasten themselves. In the 
middle of the night the weather was very rough ; huge waves 
burst upon us, sometimes overturning us with great violence. 
The cries of the men mingled with the roaring of the flood, 
whilst the terrible sea raised us at every instant from the raft, 
and threatened to sweep us away. This scene was rendered 
still more terrible by the horrors inspired by the darkness of 
the night. Suddenly we believed we saw fires in the distance, 
at intervals. We had the precaution to hang at the top of 
the mast, the gunpowder and pistols which we had brought 
from the frigate. We made signals by burning a large quan- 
tity of cartridges ; we even fired some pistols ; but it seems 
the fire we saw was nothing but an error of vision, or, per- 
haps, nothing more than the sparkling of the waves. 
We struggled w4th death during the whole of the night, 
holding firmly by the ropes, which were made very secure. 
Tossed by the waves from the back to the front, and from the 
front to the back, and sometimes precipitated into the sea ; 
floating between life and death, mourning our misfortunes, 
certain of perishing ; we disputed, nevertheless, the remain- 
der of our existence with that cruel element which threaten- 
ed to ingulf us. Such was our condition till day-break. At 
every instant we heard the lamentable cries of the soldiers 
and sailors; they prepared for death, bidding farewell to one 
another, imploring the protection of Heaven, and addressing 
fervent prayers to God. Every one made vows to him, in 
spite of the certainty of never being able to accomplish them. 
Frightful situation ! How is it possible to have any idea of it, 
which will not fall short of the reality ! 
Toward seven in the morning the sea fell a little, the wind 
blew with less fury ; but what a scene presented itself to our 
view ! Ten or twelve unfortunates, having their inferior ex- 
tremities fixed in the openings between the pieces of the raft, 
had perished by being unable to disengage themselves ; seve- 
ral others were swept away by the violence of the sea. At 
the hour of repast we took the numbers anew ; we had lost 
twenty men. We will not afiirm that this was the exact 
number: for we perceived some soldiei's who, to have more 
than their share, took rations for two, and even three ; we 
were so huddled together that we found it absolutely impos- 
sible to prevent this abuse. 
