Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 February 1887 — Galley-Slaves of the Last Century. [ARTICLE]

Galley -Slaves of the Last Century.

The life of the French galley-slaves of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries has been thus described by Admiral do la Graviere: “They place seven men on each beach; that is to say, in a space ten feet long lrv four feet wide. "They are so packed away that you can see nulling from stern to bow but the heads of the sailors. The captain and the officers are not much better off. When tlie seas overtake the galleys, when the north wind howls along the coast, or when the sirocco dampens the passengers with its deadly moisture, all these make the galley a perfect hell. The lamentation oJ the ship’s company, the shrieks of the sailors, the horrible bowling of the convicts, the groaning of the timbers, mixed with the clanking of the chains, and the natural noises of the storm, produce an effect which will terrify the bravest of mem Even, the calm has its inconvenience. The horrid smells are so powerful that you cannot withstand them, despite the fact that you use tobacco in some shape from morning till night. “Condemned in 1701 to serve in the galleys of France on account of being a Protestant, Jean Martelle de JBugerac died in 1777 at Galenburg, on the Gueldre, at the age of 95. He seems to have had (to use a common expression, though quite in place here) 'his soul riveted to his body.’ ‘All the Convicts,’ ho says, ‘are chained six to a bench; these benches are four feet apart, and covered with a bag stuffed with wool, on which is thrown a sheepskin. Tbepverseer, who is the master of the slaves, remains aft, near the captain, to receive his orders. There are two sub-overseers —one amidships, the other on the bow. Each of them is armed with a whip, which he exercises on the naked bodies of the crew. When the captain orders the boat off, the overseer gives a signal from a silver whistle which hangs from his neck. This is repeated by tlie two others, and at once the slaves strike the water. One would say tlie fifty oars are but one. Imagine six men chained to a bench, naked as they were born, one foot on tlie foot-rest, the other braced against the seat in front, holding in their hands an oar of enormous weight, stretching their bodies out, and extending their arms forward into the backs of those before them, who llave the same attitude. The oar thus advanced, they raise the end they hold in their hands, so that the other ends shall plunge into the sea. That done, they throw themselves back and fall on their seats, which bend on receiving them. Sometimes the slave rows ten, twelve, even twenty hours at a time, without the slightest relaxation. The overseer, or some one else, on such occasions puts into the mouth of the unfortunate rower a morsel of bread steeped with wine to prevent his fainting. If, by chance, one falls over (which often happens),he is beaten until he is given up for. dead, and then he is thrown overbord without ceremony.”