The crews in the roadstead fell on the 200 men of the 6th demi-brigade and other prisoners aboard the vessels, and four to five hundred men were shot or stabbed around them.

When Pétion had appeared at the gates of the Cap, a universal cry of terror had been heard in the town. This cry had resounded even on board the vessels of the roadstead. The town was believed lost: the crews flung themselves upon the 200 men of the 6th whom they had embarked on 22 vendémiaire (14 October), and upon the other Black and *mulâtre* prisoners who had been sent to join them. New cries had answered those of the town. What a frightful struggle! what a horrible outcome! 4 to 500 men shot or stabbed, dead or dying, floating around the vessels: some with the face toward heaven, as if to implore its vengeance; the others with the face toward the abyss, as if to escape the iron of the assassins!