Episode 3 of 4

Suffering on the Raft

When: 5-17 July 1816
Where: Banc d'Arguin
Part of: French frigate Méduse runs aground off Senegal; the raft scandal

Survivors endured starvation, dehydration, and cannibalism for thirteen days before rescue.

Crazed, parched, and starved, the survivors slaughtered mutineers, ate their dead companions, and killed the weakest. All but fifteen died before the raft was rescued by the Argus on 17 July 1816.

Sources

The Raft of the Medusa Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-23

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.