The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1885-03-21
THE OLD-TIME GALLEY SLAVES.

length of oars, 80 feet. Let us take
a galley of the sixteenth or seven
teenth century as specimen; it is
low in the water, long and sharp,
carrying a crew of about 400 men,
with two months provisions, and 23
tons ballast, armed with one thirty
six pouhder, two eight Founders
and two four Founders, to say moth
ing of a dozen swivel guns placed on
the gunwale rail. This ship is
moved by fifty oars, and does not,
in her passage, displace a yard of
water. Those who look for the first
time at the personnel of galley,
wrote Barras de la Penne in 1713
Che was a Captain Of one of the
corps for forty years., are surprised
to see so many people. They place
seven men on each bench; that is to
say, in 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
winds howl along the coast, or when
the sirocco dampens the passengers
with its deadly moisture, all these
make the galley a perfect hell. The
lamentation of the ships company,
the shrieks of the sailors, the horri-
bic 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 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 until night.
Condemned in 1901 to serve in
the galleys of France on account of
being Protestant, Jean Martelle de
Bugerac died in 1777 at Galenburg,
on the Gueldre, at the age of 95. He
seems to have had Ito use a COM
mon expression, though quite in
place here) "his soul riveted to his
body" "All the convicts," he says,
"are chained six to a bench; these |
benches are four feet apart, and COW
cred with bag stuffed with wool,
on which is thrown a sheep-skin.
The overseer, who is the master of |
the slaves, remains aft, nearthe cap
tain to receive his orders. There
are two sub-overseers-one amid
ships, the other on the bow. Each
of them is armed with whip, which
he exercises on the naked bodies of
the crew. When the Captain orders
the boat off, the overseer gives a sig
nal from a silver whistle which
hangs from his neck. This is re-
peated 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 into the backs of those be-
fore them, who have the same atti-
tude. The oars thus advanced,
they raise the end they hold in their
hands, so that the other end shall
plunge into the sea. That done they
throw themselve back and fall on
their seats, which bend in 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 rover a morsel of
bread stepped 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 over
board without ceremony"
The ration of forcat in port, in
the seventeenth century, was thirty
ounces of biscuit, and a soup in
which three ounces of beans had for
one-fourth of an ounce of
olive oil. At sea the soup was not
except every other day
for two reasons: First because twas
difficult to cook when the galley
was in motion, and it is important
not to over-feed the slave; to be-
come fat is as bad for a rover as for
a race-horse. 1t is necessary, says
Captain Pantera, to subject the gal
ley-slave to constant exercise, which
consumes the superAuous humors
and keep his body in good condi-
ton.
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