Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816 Part 12

[5] The light house of La Baleine is placed at the other end of the Pertuis d'Antioche, on the coast of the Isle of Rhe.

[6] _Les Roches Bonnes _are 8 or 9 leagues from the Isle of Rhe, their position is not exactly determined on the charts.

[7] Three knots make a marine league of 5556 meters.

[8] These are very large fish which every moment appear on the surface of the water, where they tumble about. They pa.s.s with such prodigious rapidity, that they will swim round a s.h.i.+p, when it is going at the rate of nine or ten knots an hour.

[9] The life buoy, is made of cask staves hooped together, and is about a metre (something more than a yard.) in diameter, in the middle of which is a little mast to fix a flag to. It is thrown into the sea, as soon as a man falls overboard, that he may place himself upon it while the operation of lowering a boat down, or heaving the, vessel to, is performed.

[10] We do not know why the government makes its vessels take this route; when one can proceed directly to the Canaries: it is true they are often obscured by mists, but there are no dangers in the princ.i.p.al ca.n.a.ls which they form, and they extend over so large a s.p.a.ce that it is impossible not to recognise them, with facility. They have also the advantage of being placed in the course of the monsoons; though however, west winds sometimes blow for several days together. We think that vessels going to the East Indies might dispense with making Madeira and Porto Santo, the more so as there are many shoals near these islands; besides the rocks, of which we have spoken above there is another, to the N. E. of Porto Santo, on which many vessels have been lost; by night all these reefs are very dangerous, by day they are recognised by the breakers on them.

[11] This route was not recommended by the instructions, but there was on board an old sea officer, who announced himself as a pilot in these seas; his advice was unfortunately attended to.

[12] A description of the reef of Arguin may be found in the _Little Sea Torch_.

[13] Besides the instructions given by the Minister, for sailing, after having made Cape Blanco, there was a letter sent some days before our departure from the road of the Isle of Aix, recommending the commander of the expedition not to depend upon the Charts, upon which the reef is very erroneously placed.

[14] Mr. Laperere, the officer on the watch before Mr. Maudet, found by his reckoning, that we were very near the reef; he was not listened to, though he did his utmost, at least to ascertain our situation by sounding. We have mentioned the names of Messrs. Laperere and Maudet, because if they had been attended to, the Medusa would be still in existence.

[15] This was not the long boat of the frigate; it was a boat in no very good condition, which was to be left at Senegal, for the service of the port.

[16] The bottom was besides soft; being sand mixed with grey mud, and sh.e.l.ls, the raft, were also put over board: the two lower yards were retained in their place, to serve as sh.o.r.es to the frigate, and to support it, in case it threatened to upset.

[17] This plan was shewn to several persons; we ourselves saw it in the hands of the governor, who sketched it, leaning on the great capstern.

[18] Two officers displayed the greatest activity, they would have thrown into the sea every thing that could be got overboard. They were permitted to proceed for a moment; and the next moment contrary orders were given.

[19] Why was it opposed?

[20] The numbers above mentioned make only three hundred and eighty-three, so that there is an error somewhere. T.

[21] _Trois quarts_: it is not said of what measure; probably a pint.--T.

[22] The original is _n'ayant pas le pie marin_, not having a sailors foot.

[23] Our Lady of Laux is in the Department of the Upper Alps, not far from Gap. A church has been built there, the patroness of which is much celebrated, in the country, for her miracles. The lame, the gouty, the paralytic, found there relief, which it is said, never failed.

Unfortunately, this miraculous power did not extend, it seems, to s.h.i.+pwrecked persons: at least the poor sutler drew but little advantage from it.

[24] One of the water casks was recovered; but the mutineers had made a large hole in it, and the sea water got in, so that the fresh water was quite spoiled; we, however, kept the little cask as well as one of the wine barrels, which was empty. These two casks were afterwards of use to us.

[25] These fish are very small; the largest is not equal to a small herring.

[26] This plot, as we learned afterwards, was formed particularly by a Piedmontese serjeant; who, for two days past, had endeavoured to insinuate himself with us, in order to gain our confidence. The care of the wine was entrusted to him: he stole it in the night, and, distributed it to some of his friends.

[27] We had all put together in one bag the money we had, in order to purchase provisions and hire camels, to carry the sick, in case we should land on the edge of the desert. The sum was fifteen hundred francs.

Fifteen of us were saved, and each had a hundred francs. The commander of the raft and a captain of infantry divided it.

[28] One of these soldiers was the same Piedmontese serjeant of whom we have spoken above; he put his comrades forward, and kept himself concealed in case their plot should fail.

[29] Persons s.h.i.+pwrecked, in a situation similar to ours, have found great relief by dipping their clothes in the sea, and wearing them thus impregnated with the water; this measure was not employed on the fatal raft.

[30] Perhaps a kind of sea-nettle is here meant.

[31] What is called a fish, is a long piece of wood concave on one side, serving to be applied to the side of a mast, to strengthen it when in danger of breaking, it is fastened by strong ropes; hence, to fish a mast.

[32] The conduct of this young man merits some recompense. At the end of 1816, there was a promotion of 80 mids.h.i.+pmen, who were to be taken from the _eleves_ who had been the longest in the service; Mr. Rang was.

amongst the first 70, according to the years he had been in the service, and should therefore have been named by right. In fact, it is said that he was placed on the list of Candidates; but that his name was struck out because some young men, (whom they call _proteges_) applied to the ministry, and were preferred.

[33] This report of a mutiny, among the crew of the long-boat, began to circulate as soon as it joined the line which the boats formed before the raft. The following is what was told us: when the boats had abandoned the raft, several men, in the long-boat, subaltern officers of the troops on board, exclaimed: _"let us fire on those who fly;"_ already their muskets were loaded; but the officer, who commanded, had influence enough to hinder them from executing their purpose. We have also been told that one F. a quarter-master, presented his piece at the captain of the frigate. This is all we have been able to collect concerning this pretended revolt.

[34] The fruit here mentioned, is probably jujubes (ziziphum), in their last stage of maturity. The author of this note, has found in the deserts of Barbary, and the shades of the Acacias, some immense _jujubes_; but, besides this fruit, the only one of a red or reddish colour which he has remarked in this country, are those of some _caparidees_, very acid; some _icaques_ before they are ripe; the _tampus_ or _sebestum_ of Africa, and the wood of a _prasium_, which is very common in most of the dry places: the calyx of which, is swelled, succulent, and of an orange colour, good to eat, and much sought after by the natives.

[35] Is it really maize (zea) which has been observed about this _Marigot_, in large plantations? This name is so often given to varieties of the Sorgho, or dourha of the negroes, that there is probably a mistake here. In a publication, printed since this expedition, it has been stated, that maize was cultivated in the open fields, by the negroes of Cape Verd, whereas they cultivate no species of grain, except two kinds of _houlques_, to which they add, here and there, but in smaller fields, a kind of haricot, or French bean, _dolique unguicule_, which they gather in October, and a part of which they sell at Goree and St. Louis, either in pods or seed. The dishes which they prepare with this _dolique_, are seasoned with leaves of the Baobab, (Adansonia) reduced to powder, and of ca.s.sia, with obtuse leaves, and still fresh. As for the cous-cous, the usual food of the negroes, it is made of the meal of sorgho, boiled up with milk. To obtain this meal, they pound the millet in a mortar, with a hard and heavy pestle of mahogony, (_mahogon_) which grows on the banks of Senegal. The _mahogon_ or _mahogoni_ which, according to naturalists, has a great affinity to the family of the _miliacees_, and which approaches to the genus of the _cedrelles_, is found in India, as well as in the Gulph of Mexico, where it is beginning to grow scarce. At St. Domingo, it is considered as a species of _acajou_,[36] and they give it that name. The yellow _mahogoni_, of India, furnishes the satin wood. There is also the _mahogoni febrifuge_, the bark of which supplies the place of the Peruvian bark. Lamarque has observed that the _mahogon_ of Senegal has only eight stamina; the other kinds have ten.

[36] Acajou is, we believe, generally used for mahogany.--T.

[37] The probity and justice of General Blanchot were so fully appreciated by the inhabitants of St. Louis, that when his death deprived the colony of its firmest support, all the merchants and officers of the government united to raise a monument to him, in which the remains of this brave general still repose. It was a short time after his death that the English took possession of St Louis, and all the officers of that nation joined in defraying the expences of the erection of the monument, on which there is an epitaph beginning with these words: _"Here repose the remains of the brave and upright General Blanchot,"_ &c. We think it not foreign to the purpose, to publish a trait which will prove how far General Blanchot carried his ideas of justice; every man, of sensibility, reads with pleasure, the account of a good action, particularly when it belongs to an hero of his own nation.

Some time before Senegal was given up to the English, St. Louis was strictly blockaded, so that all communication with France was absolutely impossible; in a short time the colony was short of all kinds of provisions. The prudent general called an extraordinary council, to which he invited all the chief inhabitants of the town, and the officers of government. It was resolved not to wait till the colony was dest.i.tute of provisions; and that, in order to hold out to the last extremity, all the inhabitants, without distinction of colour, or of rank, should have only a quarter of a ration of bread, and two ounces of rice or millet per day; to execute this decree, all the provisions were removed into the government magazines, and the general gave orders that it should be punctually followed. Some days after these measures were taken, the governor, according to his custom, invited the authorities to dine with him; it was understood that every one should bring his portion of bread and of rice; nevertheless, a whole loaf was served up on the governor's table. As soon as he perceived it, he asked his servants who could have given orders to the store-keeper to suspend, in respect to himself, the decree of the general council? All the company then interfered, and said that the council had never had any idea of putting him upon an allowance, and that he ought to permit this exception. The General, turning to one of his aides-de-camp, said: "go and tell the store-keeper, that I put him provisionally under arrest, for having exceeded my orders; and you, gentlemen, know that I am incapable of infringing on the means of subsistance of the unhappy slaves, who would certainly want food, while I had a superfluous supply on my table: learn that a French general knows how to bear privations, as well as the brave soldiers under his command." During the short time of the scarcity, which lasted four months, the General would never permit a larger ration to be given to him, than that which came to the meanest slave; his example prevented every body from murmuring, and the colony was saved.

While they were suffering the severest privations the harvest was approaching, and, at length, delivered St. Louis from the scarcity. At the same time, vessels arrived from France, and brought abundant supplies. But soon after, the English returned to besiege St. Louis, and made themselves master of it. Though this note has carried us rather away from our subject, we would not pa.s.s over in silence, so honorable a trait; it is a homage paid to the memory of the brave General Blanchot. We may add, that after having been governor, during a long series of years, he died without fortune. How few men do we find who resemble Blanchot?

[38] Every body knows the popular proverb, which very well expresses our idea: "_That which is worth taking, is worth keeping_."

[39] It will hardly be believed to how many popular reports, these 100,000 francs have given rise. There are people who do not believe that they were ever embarked on board the frigate. How do they explain this supposition? It is by asking how the conduct of persons, who had sold the interest of their country, and their honor, to foreign interests, would have been different from that of certain persons? For our part, we do not doubt but that this report is a fable. The folly, the pride, the obstinacy which conducted us on the bank of Arguin, have no need of having another crime added to them. Besides, if there are, sometimes, persons who sell their honor, there are none who, at the same time, sell their lives; and those whom people would accuse of something more than extreme incapacity, have sufficiently proved in dangers which threatened themselves, that they well knew how to provide for their own safety.

[40] Probably the cross of the legion of honor--T.

[41] These desertions are unhappily too frequent in naval history.

The _St. John the Baptist_ stranded in 1760 on the isle of Sables, where 87 poor people were abandoned, in spite of the promises to come and fetch them, made by 320 of the s.h.i.+pwrecked persons, who almost all saved themselves upon the island of Madagascar. Eighty negroes and negresses perished for want of a.s.sistance, some of hunger, some in attempting to save themselves upon rafts. Seven negresses and a child who lived there for fifteen years, were exposed to the most terrible distresses, and were saved in 1776 by Mr. de Trommelin, commanding the Dauphine corvette.

The Favorite, commanded by Captain Moreau, fell in with the island of Adu in 1767; he sent a boat on sh.o.r.e with a crew of eight men, commanded by Mr.

Riviere, a navy officer, but Moreau abandoned them, because the currents drove him towards the island; and he returned to the isle of France, where he took no step to induce the government to send them a.s.sistance. The brave Riviere and all his sailors succeeded in saving themselves on the coast of Malabar, by means of a raft and his boat; he landed at Cranganor, near Calicut.

One may conceive that at the first moment the presence of danger may derange the senses, and that then people may desert their companions on board a vessel; but not to go to their a.s.sistance, when the danger is surmounted, not to hasten to fly to their relief, this is inconceivable.

[42] Persons whom we could name, divided the great flag, and cut it up into table-cloths, napkins, &c. we mention with the distinction which they deserve, Sophia, a negress belonging to the governor, and Margaret, a white servant.

[43] They dined almost every day with the English officers; but in the evening they were obliged to return to the fatal hospital, where an infinite number of victims languished: if, by chance, one of the convalescents failed to come, their generous and benevolent hosts sent to the hospital, anxiously enquiring the cause of his absence.

[44] The affair of the coal-mine of Beaujon, as a journalist has well observed, insures lasting celebrity to the name of the brave Goffin, whose memory the French Academy has consecrated by a poetical prize; and the city of Liege, by a large historical picture which has been publicly exhibited.--Doubtless the devotedness of Goffin was sublime; but, Goffin was only the victim of a natural accident, no sentiment of honour and duty, had plunged him voluntarily into an imminent danger, as it had many of those on the raft, and which, several of them might have avoided. Goffin, accusing only fate and the laws of nature, to which we are subject, in every situation, had not to defend his soul against all the odious and terrible impressions of all the unchained pa.s.sions of the human heart: hatred, treachery, revenge, despair, fratricide, all the furies in short, did not hold up to him their hideous and threatening spectres; how great a difference does the nature of their sufferings, suppose in the souls of those who had to triumph over the latter? and yet, what a contrast in the results! Goffin was honored and, with justice; the men s.h.i.+pwrecked on the raft, once proscribed, seem to be forever forsaken. Whence is that misfortune so perseveringly follows them? Is it that, when power has been once unjust, has no means to efface its injustice but to persist in it, no secret to repair its wrongs, but to aggravate them?

[45] Three men saved from the raft, died in a very short time; those who crossed the desert, being too weak to go to Daccard, were in considerable numbers in this same hospital, and perished there successively.

[46] Major Peddy had fought against the French in the Antilles and in Spain; the bravery of our soldiers, and the reception given him in France at the time of our disasters, had inspired him with the greatest veneration for our countrymen, who had, on more than one occasion, shewn themselves generous towards him.

[47] The Governor, who it seems did not like the sight of the unfortunate, had, however, no reason to fear that it would too much affect his sensibility. He had elevated himself above the misfortunes of life, at least, when they did not affect himself, to a degree of impa.s.sibility, which would have done honor to the most austere stoic and which, doubtless, indicates the head of a statesman, in which superior interests, and the thought of the public good, leave no room for vulgar interests, for mean details, for care to be bestowed on the preservation of a wretched individual. Thus, when the death of some unhappy Frenchman was announced to him, this news no further disturbed his important meditations than to make him say to his secretary, "Write, that Mr. such a one is dead."

The governor is, at the bottom, doubtless, a man not dest.i.tute of sensibility; for example, he never pa.s.sed by the king's picture (if any strangers were present) but he shed tears of emotion. But his great application to business, the numerous occupations, the divers enterprises which have agitated his life, have, if we may so express it, so long distracted his thoughts that he has at length felt the necessity of concentrating them wholly in himself.