Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1885-04-08

storms, the waves washing over the
decks, added to the horror of the situa-
ton. Although people are not gener-
ally very devout in the galleys, some
would then be seen praying to God,
while others were offering vows to all
the saints. Some even, in spite OF the
rocking of the vessel, would try to
make pilgrimages on board! Much
better would it have been for them not
to forget God and his saints as soon as
the danger was past.
Calm weather itself has it's inconven-
fences: Bad smells are then so often
sive that they can not be escaped from,
in spite of the snuff with which you
are obliged to fill your nose from morn
ing to night. There are always on
galley certain little pests which are the
torment of the inhabitants. Flies exer-
else their empire by day, bugs by
night, feas and lice day and night.
Whatever precautions may be taken,
one can not succeed in getting free
from these annoyances. The frightful
vermin do not respect even cardinals,
ambassadors, or crowned heads"
With respect to the size of the gal
leys, the largest of those in the six
teenth and seventeenth centuries had a
length of about forty-seven to tifty-tive
meters, by not quite six meters in
width. They were of very light draft,
and consequently shallow, were moved
by fifty oars of twelve meters in length,
and carried crew in all of about four
hundred in that circumscribed space.
Here is the testimony of Jean Mar
do Hxrhn in VIynC
condemned to serve in the French gal
leys for the crime of being Protest
ant, and therefore speaks from bitter
experience of many years:
E'All the convicts are chained to
benches, six to each. These are four
feet from each other, and are covered
with q sack stuffed with wool, over
which is thrown a sheepskin that de-
sends to the footrest. The comite,
that is, the matter of the chain-gang,
stands at the stern, near the captain,
to receive his orders. There are two
sous comites-one in the middle, the
other at the PROV. Each is armed with
a whip, which is applied to the naked
bodies of the slaves When the cap
tain gives orders to weigh, the cOmite
gives the signal with silver whistle
that hangs from his neck. This signal
is repeated by the sOus-comites, and
Immediately the slaves beat the water
with their oars together; you would
say that the fifty oars were but one.
Imagine six men chained to q bench,
naked as when they were born, one foot
on the rest, the other on the bench in
front, holding in their hands an oar of
enormous weight, stretching their bod
les toward the stern of the galley, their
arms extended so as to push their oar
above the backs of the rowers before
them, who themselves take the same
attitude. The being thus advanced.
they raise the end they hold SO as to
plunge the other in the sea; this done,
they throw themselves back and fall on
their seat, which bends beneath their
weight The galley slave thus rows
sometimes ten, twelve, and even twenty
hours in succession without a single
stop. On such occasions the comite
would thrust a piece OF bread soaked in
wine into the mouths of the poor oars
men to prevent their fainting. Then
the Captain would command the comite
to redouble his blows. If one of the
poor wretches fell exhausted over his
oar, which frequently happened, he
was logged until he was supposed to
be dead, and then cast into the sea
without ceremony"
What an idea of human misery and
suffering does the foregoing picture
convey!-BOstO7a TRANSCRIPT.