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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Horrifying Experience, November 24, 2000
Anyone familiar with Gericault's painting "The Raft of the Medusa" will know immediately that this is not going to be a pretty story. "Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal," written in 1816, is by two of the survivors from the raft. They tell a frightening tale of abandonment, starvation, mutiny, murder, and cannibalism, the horrors of which are surpassed by their treatment by the French government once they've been rescued. Despite the dreadful consequences of the rampant incompetence and indecision that led to their fate, ultimately it's the misguided faith the authors have in their mother country that sees them through. The Medusa set sail in 1816 to reclaim Senegal, on the west coast of Africa, from England. Despite France's loss in the Napoleonic Wars, England had conceded France's former colonies in the wars' aftermath. The ship was carrying the governor who was to take over the reclaimed territory, as well as several hundred soldiers who were to be stationed there. After the Medusa wrecks, due to the incompetence of the captain (who relied on the advice of a passenger rather than pay attention to what his own navigators were telling him), bedlam breaks loose. Plans are made only to be tossed aside, no one is in charge, and people are scrambling to save themselves without a care for anyone else on board. As there is not enough room in the boats for the approximately 400 sailors and passengers, the survivors build a raft to carry away those who won't fit. The raft, approximately 85' x 25', is quickly lashed together from intersecting masts and spars, but it doesn't have a solid floor. (Later, people's feet and legs get caught in the holes, and they drown, unable to free themselves.) One hundred and fifty people are put on the raft, with the idea that the boats will tow it behind them to safety. That many people, however, are too much for the small raft, and they are crowded together so tightly they stand side by side, with no room to sit down. They couldn't have sat anyway - the raft is so overloaded that the people are up to their waists in water. That is only one of the many difficulties they face. First, the boat towing the raft deliberately loosens the tow rope, casting the raft adrift with no oars, no rudder, and no charts or navigation equipment. Then there is a gale, and many of the victims are swept overboard to their deaths. The second and third nights see a mutiny of the soldiers against the officers; many on both sides are killed and almost all are wounded. Food and water are scarce, and all are suffering from sunburn and exposure. Soon, sharks appear alongside the raft. By the time the raft is sighted and the people on it are rescued after 13 days at sea, only 15 people of the original 150 are still alive. Of those, five die soon thereafter. The remaining 10 are put in a filthy hospital, with little food and no clothes. The governor and his cohorts leave them behind, escaping to Dakar in hopes of avoiding a scandal by spreading their own version of how the raft came to be on its own. The authors appeal to the French government for help and are spurned, again in an attempt to avoid scandal. Despite their trials, they remain loyal French citizens, with an undying hope that their country will give them at least some sort of pension after all they have been through. They are to be sorely disappointed. It is only because of Savigny and Correard's rather florid writing style that I give this book four stars instead of five. Nevertheless, they write with an emotional candor that is heartwrenching, and I would recommend this narrative to anyone who is interested in adventure tales, sea stories, or history. The book is well worth-while, and for those of you who aren't used to reading early 19th Century literature, I recommend sticking with the story through to the end. This terrible event is rendered more awful by the knowledge that the authors really experienced it.
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