Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816

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Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816

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Title: Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816 Undertaken by Order of the French Government, Comprising an Account of the Shipwreck of the Medusa, the Sufferings of the Crew, and the Various Occurrences on Board the Raft, in the Desert of Zaara, at St. Louis, and at the Camp of Daccard. To Which Are Subjoined Observations Respecting the Agriculture of the Western Coast of Africa, from Cape Blanco to the Mouth of the Gambia.
Author: J. B. Henry Savigny and Alexander Corréard
Release Date: April 3, 2004 [EBook #11772]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Transcriber's Note: The spelling inconsistencies of the original are retained in this etext.]

NARRATIVE OF A VOYAGE TO SENEGAL IN 1816.
_No person can read this Interesting Narrative without being deeply affected by the perils and misfortunes to which the small remnant of persons, who were saved from this deplorable Shipwreck, were exposed. Of one hundred and fifty persons embarked upon the raft, and left to their fate, only fifteen remained alive thirteen days afterwards; but of these fifteen, so miraculously saved, life constituted the sole possession, being literally stripped of every thing. At Paris, some benevolent individuals have recently opened a subscription for their relief. Should any persons, in this country, feel disposed to contribute to this humane object, Mr. Colburn will feel great pleasure in becoming the medium for transmitting their subscriptions to the unfortunate sufferers._

NARRATIVE OF A VOYAGE TO SENEGAL IN 1816;
UNDERTAKEN BY ORDER OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT, COMPRISING AN ACCOUNT OF THE Shipwreck of the Medusa, THE SUFFERINGS OF THE CREW, AND THE VARIOUS OCCURRENCES ON BOARD THE RAFT, IN THE DESERT OF ZAARA, AT ST. LOUIS, AND AT THE CAMP OF DACCARD. TO WHICH ARE SUBJOINED OBSERVATIONS RESPECTING THE AGRICULTURE OF THE WESTERN COAST OF AFRICA, FROM CAPE BLANCO TO THE MOUTH OF THE GAMBIA. BY J.B. HENRY SAVIGNY, AND ALEXANDER CORRéARD.
ILLUSTRATED WITH THE NOTES OF M. BREDIF AND EMBELLISHED WITH A PLAN OF THE RAFT, AND A PORTRAIT OF KING ZAIDE.
1818.

ADVERTISEMENT.
At the moment that we publish a Second Edition of our Narrative, we learn that Mr. Sevigny [A] is going to publish a pretended Account, by Mr. Richefort, an auxiliary Ex-Officer of the French Marine.
Our readers will not have forgotten a certain pretended sea-officer who was partly the cause of our misfortunes, and who, when on board the Medusa, gave such unhappy advice to the captain, who still more unhappily, followed it too closely; well; this _ex-officer_, this fatal auxiliary, who conducted the frigate upon the bank of Arguin, is no other than Mr. Richefort!
Having gone on board the governor's boat, he remained a stranger to the disasters which he had partly caused, and consequently, knew nothing of what passed, either upon the raft, or on board the boats which stranded, or in the desert.
We make no farther remarks; the public will judge of his account and ours.
CORRéARD AND SAVIGNY.
[A] This Mr. Sevigny must not be confounded with Mr. Savigny, one of the authors of this narrative.
This Mr. Sevigny is one of the directors of an anonymous company, which one of the King's Ministers has recommended in the following manner:
"The keeper of the seals has informed the magistrates, that an anonymous company, which had formed itself under the name of the Colonial Philanthropic Society of Senegambia, and which announced the project of procuring for all those who should confide in it, colonial establishments on the coasts near Cape Verd, has received no authority from the government, and that, on the steps which it has taken, to obtain such authority, it has been found that it was not in a condition to fulfil its promises, which, therefore, were a kind of snare, for those whom they might have seduced. It has been, consequently, prohibited from making any enterprise, or any expedition. The agents of this Society having no other object than to deceive the public credulity, must be denounced to his Majesty's Attorney-General, who will take against them the measures prescribed by the law."
(_Journal des Débats, Novembre _24, 1817.)

PREFACE.
The annals of the marine, record no example of a shipwreck so terrible as that of the Medusa frigate. Two of the unfortunate crew, who have miraculously escaped from