Perishing with cold, and thirst, and hunger—­for the ship, her stern now broken away, no longer afforded shelter from the waves, and they had tasted nothing since she struck—­the unhappy crew saw a third day arise upon their miseries.  Still the gale continued, and there was no prospect of relief from the shore.  It was now determined to construct a large raft, and first to send away the surviving wounded, with the women and children, in a boat which remained.  But as soon as she was brought alongside, there was a general rush, and about a hundred and twenty threw themselves into her.  Their weight carried down the boat; next moment an enormous wave broke upon them, and when the sea became smoother, their corpses were seen floating all around.  An officer, Adjutant General Renier, attempted to swim on shore, hoping that a knowledge of their condition might enable the spectators to devise some means for their deliverance.  He plunged into the sea and was lost.

“Already nearly nine hundred had perished,” says Lieutenant Pipon, an officer of the 63rd regiment, who was on board a prisoner, and who afterwards published the dreadful story.[7] “when the fourth night came with renewed terrors.  Weak, distracted, and wanting everything, we envied the fate of those whose lifeless corpses no longer needed sustenance.  The sense of hunger was already lost, but a parching thirst consumed our vitals.  Recourse was had to wine and salt water, which only increased the want.  Half a hogshead of vinegar floated up, and each had half a wine-glassful.  This gave a momentary relief, yet soon left us again in the same state of dreadful thirst.  Almost at the last gasp, every one was dying with misery:  the ship, which was now one third shattered away from the stern, scarcely afforded a grasp to hold by, to the exhausted and helpless survivors.  The fourth day brought with it a more serene sky, and the sea seemed to subside; but to behold, from fore and aft, the dying in all directions, was a sight too shocking for the feeling mind to endure.  Almost lost to a sense of humanity, we no longer looked with pity on those who were the speedy fore-runners of our own fate, and a consultation took place to sacrifice some one to be food for the remainder.  The die was going to be cast, when the welcome sight of a man-of-war brig renewed our hopes.  A cutter speedily followed, and both anchored at a short distance from the wreck.  They then sent their boats to us, and by means of large rafts, about a hundred and fifty of near four hundred who attempted it, were saved by the brig that evening.  Three hundred and eighty were left to endure another night’s misery, when, dreadful to relate, above one-half were found dead next morning.”

Commodore Lacrosse, General Humbert, and three British infantry officers, prisoners, remained in the wreck till the fifth morning; and all survived:  so great is the influence of moral power to sustain through extreme hardships.  The prisoners were treated with the utmost kindness, and in consideration of their sufferings, and the help they had afforded in saving many lives, a cartel was fitted out by order of the French Government to send them home, without ransom or exchange.  They arrived at Plymouth on the 7th of March following.