abandoned on the wreck. A place had been promised them in the pinnace; but that boat had put off, and its commander would not return to take the helpless family. Roused by the horrors of his situation, M. Picard lifted a musket from the deck, and hailing the yawl, which was near at hand, declared that he would shoot every one on board, if they would not carry himself and family to the pinnace. The sailors, murmuring, assented, and, by this means, the Picards reached the pinnace, on which they were, with affected politeness, taken on board.

When all had left the vessel who would go, there remained seventeen persons, some of whom were intoxicated, and incapable of providing for their safety.

For some time after quitting the wreck, five of the boats united in a line, towing the raft behind them by a rope; and, as the wind was fortunately favorable, there can be no reasonable doubt that, had they continued to pull, the whole fleet would have reached the shore in from thirty to forty hours. To the everlasting disgrace of the French navy, the commanders of the boats changed altogether the plan to which they had engaged themselves to adhere, and, one and all dropping the tow-line, left their brethren on the raft to their fate. The immediate cause of this most dishonest and inhuman

procedure, was an appeal made to them by M. Espiau in the yawl. This gentleman, the only officer who seemed to pity the unfortunates on the Medusa, was the last to quit the wreck, and, in compassion for those left behind, had taken more on board than his boat could well contain. Hastening after the boats in advance, he earnestly besought their commanders to relieve him of part of his crew; but all refused to assist him. In the desperation to which they were put, some of the crew in the yawl proposed swimming after the boats, and, if possible, working on the compassion of their commanders. One sailor put this proposal in practice. Plunging into the sea, he swam toward one of the leading and least-burdened boats; but on reaching, and endeavoring to climb into it, the officer in command pushed him back, and, drawing his sword, threatened to cut off his hands, if he did not let go. The poor wretch, being thus compelled to desist from the attempt, next tried the pinnace; but here he met with no better suc

cess.

Some of the party on board entreated the officer, M. Laperere, to receive him; but he refused the request, and the man was left to his fate. M. Laperere, it appears, got rid of the unhappy applicant for admission not only by refusing to take him in, but by hastening away from him. To put the boat beyond his reach,

he caused the tug-line to be dropped, and so made off with all speed from the spot. The commanders of the other boats imitated this execrable example. Wishing to get beyond the reach of the unfortunate being who was floundering amid the waves, and of the yawl from which he had precipitated himself, all dropped the towing rope, and each boat made off precipitately from the dismal scene.

The raft was thus abandoned by all who had sworn to assist in towing it to land. A hundred and fifty fellow-creatures were unscrupulously left in the midst of the ocean-to perish. We question if the whole annals of shipwreck present a case of greater iniquity than this; it must forever stand unparalleled for heartless inhumanity. At first, when the unfortunate individuals on the raft saw the boats break loose from the line they had been pursuing, they imagined that the towing-rope had snapped, and they raised their voices to make their companions aware of the fact. "The rope is brokethe rope is broke!" burst from them with increasing intensity of agony. To their surprise, no attention was paid to their cries, and for a moment they imagined that some new tactics advantageous to all were to be practiced. The French, with characteristic vivacity, raised the national flag on the raft, and united in the cry

of Vive le Roi; trusting, perhaps, to awaken a sympathizing feeling in the bosoms of their retreating companions, and so bring them back to a sense of humanity and duty. If such were their meaning it signally failed. The commanders of the boats bombastically returned the cry; and Captain Lachaumareys, assuming a martial attitude, politely waved his hat in the air, as a parting testimony of regard. The wretched crew of the raft now too surely saw what was to be their doom. They perceived that, after being treacherously decoyed upon their floating prison, they were left with indifference to die of hunger, or to be drowned in the sea. Wild cries forthwith rent the air-cries of heart-rending despair-cries for justice and compassioncries also of vengeance and contempt. All were alike unheeded. The boats hastened on their course.

From the narrative of Mademoiselle Picard, we learn that the cries on this melancholy occasion would have melted any but the most obdurate of hearts. "Alas! why do you leave uswhy do you leave us?" was wafted to their ears. "I felt," says she, "my heart bursting with emotion. I believed that the waves would speedily overwhelm all these forlorn wretches, and I could not suppress the tears which burst from my eyes. My father, exasperated to ex

cess, and bursting with indignation at seeing so much cowardice and inhumanity among the officers of the boats, began to express his regret for not having allowed himself to be placed on the raft along with the sufferers. 'At least,' he observed, we would have died with the brave, or we would have returned to the wreck of the Medusa, and been spared the disgrace of having saved ourselves with cowards.'

Such is the account given by an eye-witness of this scene of disaster and disgrace. The history of the shipwreck now divides itself into three parts-the account of the boats and their crews, of the raft, and of the wreck of the Medusa. In the first place, we shall follow the account of

THE BOATS AND THEIR CREWS.

Among the six boats which left the Medusa, two only had a sufficient stock of provisions, and these made off with all dispatch from their companions in misfortune. It had been arranged that they all should make for the nearest land; but these two boats taking the lead, proceeded, by orders of the governor, in the direction of Senegal. This unforeseen change of course surprised and alarmed the crews of the other boats; for none of them had provisions for more than one or two days; and to en