still put of the water: being thus ill fixed, it could not answer the
purpose intended; when they began to heave upon it, it made very little
resistance, and would have been dragged on board again if they had
continued to work at the capstern.[16] In the course of the day, we staved
several water butts which were in the hold, and pumped immediately, the top
masts, except the small one which could not be got down, were thrown into
the sea; the yards, the boom, and all the pieces of wood which afterwards
composed.

If the loss of the vessel was certain, it was proper to secure the escape
of the crew: a council was called, at which the governor of Senegal gave
the plan of a raft, capable, it was said, of carrying two hundred men, with
provisions.[17] It was necessary to have recourse to an expedient of this
nature, because our six boats were judged to be incapable of taking on
board four hundred men, which was our number. The provisions were to be
deposited on the raft, and at the hours of meals, the crews of the boats
would have come to receive their rations: we were to reach all together the
sandy coast of the desert, and there furnished with arms and ammunition,
which were to be taken in by the boats before we left the frigate, we were
to form a caravan, and proceed to the Island of St. Louis. The events which
happened in the sequel, proved that this plan was perfectly well laid, and
that it might have been crowned with success: unhappily these decisions
were traced upon a loose sand, which was dispersed by the breath of
egotism.

In the evening another anchor was cast, at a pretty considerable distance
from the frigate: just before high water, we began to work at the capstern,
but in vain. The work was put off till the next morning's tide; during all
this time, the operations were performed with the greatest difficulty; the
sea was hollow, the winds strong, the boats which had to go to a distance