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 had the precaution to hang at the top of the mast, the
gun-powder and pistols which we had brought from the frigate. We made
signals by burning a large quantity of cartridges; we even fired some
pistols, but it seems the fire we saw, was nothing but an error of
vision, or, perhaps, nothing more than the sparkling of the waves.

We struggled with 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 remainder of our
existence, with that cruel element which threatened to ingulf us. Such
was our condition till day-break. At every instant were 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 far short of the reality!

Towards 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 extremities fixed in the openings
between the pieces of the raft, had perished by being unable to
disengage themselves; several 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 affirm that this was the exact number; for we
perceived some soldiers who, to have more than their share, took rations
for two, and even three; we were so huddled together, that we found it
absolutely impossible to preven