The Count of Monte Cristo

Night Swim to Tiboulen

Night Swim to Tiboulen Dantès uses the Planier lighthouse as a navigational beacon: keeping the light to his right, he knows Tiboulen will lie a little to his left. Remembering Faria’s warning that his unused body might fail him in such an effort, he tests his strength in the water and finds his captivity has not diminished his mastery of the sea. Fear, however, dogs him, as he listens for pursuit and scans the horizon each time he rises above a wave. The wind retards his progress, and the rough sea prevents him from resting by treading water, so he resolves to swim on until exhaustion or cramp seizes him. After roughly an hour he encounters an obstacle in the darkness and realizes he has reached the shore of Tiboulen, where he collapses onto the granite and falls into a deep, exhausted sleep.

Sheltering from the Tempest on Tiboulen

Sheltering from the Tempest on Tiboulen Awakened after an hour by thunder, Dantès takes shelter beneath an overhang on Tiboulen, knowing the island to be barren and exposed. As the storm breaks with full fury, the rock trembles beneath him, the waves dashing spray over his body, and lightning repeatedly illuminates the scene with blinding brightness. Hungry and thirsty—he has not eaten or drunk in twenty-four hours—he cups rainwater from a hollow in the rock. With the passage of the storm he resolves, once the sea calms, to swim onward to the larger but equally arid island of Lemaire, which would offer better concealment for the days ahead.

Witnessing the Fishing Boat Wreck

Witnessing the Fishing Boat Wreck During a violent flash of lightning, Dantès sees a fishing boat being driven like a spectre between the Island of Lemaire and Cape Croiselle. He cries out to warn the crew, but a second flash reveals that they have already perceived their danger: four men cling to the shattered mast and rigging while a fifth clings to the broken rudder. Their cries are carried to his ears by the wind, and moments later the remaining sail tears free and vanishes into the darkness. A crash and screams of distress follow, and when Dantès hurries down the rocks to search, all is silent—only the continuing tempest answers him. By dawn the storm has spent itself, gray clouds roll westward, and the reddening sky reveals the sea whitening with the approach of day.

Signaling the Genoese Tartan

Signaling the Genoese Tartan Surveying the calm from Tiboulen, Dantès reasons through his plight: the turnkey will discover Faria’s body, the alarm will be raised, the tunnel uncovered, and soldiers will pursue him by both land and sea, with cannon warning every port to refuse him shelter. Almost despairing, he spots a small lateen-rigged vessel—recognizable as a Genoese tartan—emerging from Marseilles and standing out to sea. Though he fears that smugglers would rather sell him than help him, hunger and exhaustion drive him to act. Noticing a red sailor’s cap snagged on a rock and timbers from the wrecked fishing boat floating nearby, he fashions a disguise and a float, then strikes out to intercept the tartan’s course, certain that his identity as a survivor of the wreck will be believed.

Rescue by the Tartan Crew

Rescue by the Tartan Crew Dantès watches the tartan tacking between the Château d’If and the tower of Planier and fears she may stand out to sea, but he correctly predicts she will pass between Jaros and Calaseraigne. On each tack he waves his cap and shouts a sailor’s cry; at first he is ignored, but finally he is both seen and heard, and the crew lowers a boat. By the time it reaches him, he has overestimated his strength—the timber had been supporting him all along. His arms stiffen, his legs fail, and he begins to sink. A sailor seizes him by the hair just as consciousness leaves him. Revived on deck with rum and friction, Dantès gives his name and past as a Maltese sailor shipwrecked off Cape Morgiou, conceals his features behind the explanation of a vow, and demonstrates his seamanship by taking the helm and guiding the tartan safely past the Island of Rion—convincing the crew to keep him aboard on the way to Leghorn.