Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-03-20

storms, the waves washing over tho
decks, added to the horror Of the situs-
ton. Although people are not ,,ener-
ally very deveut 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 weatheritself hasi its 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 q
galley certain little pests which are the
tosaaent of the inhabitants. Flies exer-
else their empire by day, bugs by
night, tleas and lice day and night.
Whatever precautions may be taken,
one can not succeed in getting free
from .hese annoyances. The frightful
verm7h 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
lengt:, of about forty-seven to tifty-five
meters, by not quite six meters in
width. They we're of very light draft,
and consequently shallow, were moved
by fifty oars of twelve meters in length,
and carried a crew in all of about four
hundred in that circumscribed space.
Here is the testimony of Jean Mar
seille de Bergerac, who in 17Cl was
condemned to serve in the French gal
leys Tor the crime of being a Protest.
ant, and therefore speaks from a bitter
experience of many years:
Cali the convicts are chained to
bepches, six to each. These are four
feet from each other, and are covered
with a sack stuffed with wool, over
which is thrown a sheepskin that de-
scerds to the footrest. The com:te,
thai is, the matter of the chainzgang,
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 isarmcd 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 a 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 a 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 a
above the backs of the rowcrs before
them, who themselves take the same
attitude. Theoar 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 lows
sometimes ten, twelve, and even twenty
hours in succession without a single
stop. On such occasions the comlte
would thrust a piece of bread soaked in
wine into the mouths Of the poor oars
MGR to prevent their Printing. 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 tlogged 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!-Boston Transcript.