When the storm had abated, the men built a raft from planks and barrels and sent two men to shore. The raft broke up in the waves, and both men drowned. After making a second, more solid, raft, the others were able to make it safely to shore. Over the next few days they returned to the ship daily to retrieve cargo, managing to salvage some of La Salle's papers and clothes, barrels of flour, casks of wine, glass beads, and other trade items. Before long, however, a strong southerly wind drove the hull into the muddy bottom, and soon only the rear deck remained above water. Of the 27 people originally assigned to the ship, the only survivors were Tessier, a priest, a military officer, a regular soldier, a servant girl, and a small boy. They remained on the peninsula for three months, as the only way to the fort was to walk through Karankawa territory. After a small Indian canoe washed ashore one day, the survivors were able to paddle across the bay and return to the fort. The destruction of their last ship left the settlers stranded on the Texas coast, with no hope of any assistance from the French colonies in the Caribbean Sea.