But a calamity of the most fearful nature did befal both, out of which
the Alceste's crew were delivered with life and honour untouched, when
that of the Medusa sank under a catastrophe, which has become a
proverb and a bye-word to mariners. Both ships were wrecked. For an
account of the good conduct, of the calm and resolute endurance, and
of the admirable discipline to which, under Providence, the
preservation of the crew of the Alceste is to be attributed, see pages
204-226 of this volume. A total relaxation of discipline, an absence
of all order, precaution, and presence of mind, and a contemptible
disregard of everything and of everybody but self, in the hour of
common danger, filled up the full measure of horrors poured out upon
the guilty crew of the Medusa. She struck on a sand-bank under
circumstances which admitted of the hope of saving all on board. The
shore was at no great distance, and the weather was not so boisterous
as to threaten the speedy destruction of the ship when the accident
first happened.

There were six boats of different dimensions available to take off a
portion of the passengers and crew: there was time and there was
opportunity for the construction of a raft to receive the remainder.
But the scene of confusion began among officers and men at the crisis,
when an ordinary exercise of forethought and composure would have been
the preservation of all. Every man was left to shift for himself, and
every man did shift for himself, in that selfish or bewildered manner
which increased the general disaster. The captain was not among the
last, but among the first to scramble into a boat; and the boats
pushed off from the sides of the frigate, before they had taken in as
many as each was capable of holding. Reproaches, recrimination, and
scuffling took the place of order and of the word of command, both in
the ship and in the boats, when tranquillity and order were