GALLEY SLAVES | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 10, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 23.

GALLEY SLAVES.

THE life of the French galley slaves of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries has been thus described by Admiral de la Graviere:—

“They place seven men on each bench—that is to say, in a space ten feet long by four feet wide. They are so packed away that you can see nothing from stern to bow but the heads of the sailors. The captain and the officers are not much better off.

“When the 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 unendurable. The lamentations of the ship’s company, the shrieks of the sailors, the horrible howling 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 that will terrify the bravest of men. 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 Bugerac died in 1777, at Galenburg, on the Gueldre, at the age of ninety-five. He says:—

“All the convicts are chained to a bench; these benches are four feet apart, and covered with a bag stuffed with wool, on which is thrown a sheepskin. The overseer, who is 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 one 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 the two others, and at once the slaves strike the water. One would say the fifty oars were but one.

“Imagine six men chained to a bench, naked as they were born, one foot on the 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 toward the backs of those before them, who have the same attitude.

“The oar thus advanced, they raise the end they hold in their hand, so that the other end shall plunge into the sea. That done, they throw themselves back and fall on their seats,

which bend on receiving them. Sometimes the slaves row ten, twelve, or even twenty hours at a time, without relaxation.

“The overseer or someone 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 supposed to be dead, and then thrown overboard without ceremony.”