Observations on the Diseases of Seamen

The seventeen ships which arrived from England in February and March were much less affected with it than the rest of the fleet, which was, no doubt, owing to the wine, melasses, and sour krout, with which they were so amply supplied. Though these articles were all expended before leaving Jamaica, yet the good effects of them on the constitutions of the men were visible in the course of this passage.

The America was the most free from it of all the ships of the old squadron; and this was owing to the great humanity and attention of the captain21, who, as soon as any of the men were taken ill, allowed them wine and other refreshments from his private store. There was another proof in the Conqueror of the great importance of attending to this disease in its earliest stage. Mr. Lucas, the surgeon of this ship, by watching the first beginnings of it, by a proper regulation of diet, and the administration of the essence of malt and juice of limes, not only prevented the progress of the disease, but proved, that, with great attention, it may even be cured at sea. It is of the utmost consequence in this disease to put the men on the sick list on the very first appearance of the symptoms, so that they may early have the advantage of proper treatment and regimen. It is only at this period of it that the effects of essence of malt are sensible; but we have seen that the juice of certain fruits will cure it in more advanced stages.

There is a very important remark suggested by comparing the two preceding tables with that which follows. It appears that in the month of September a much greater number was taken ill of scurvy, and also that there died of this disease a greater proportion than in the two preceding months. All the mischief from it in that month happened in the first week of it, during which as many died as in the whole month of August; for the fleet came to an anchor on the 7th of September at New York, where the worst cases were immediately sent to the hospital, and those that remained on board were supplied with every necessary refreshment. Had the fleet remained longer at sea, the mortality would probably have increased in the same progression; and this circumstance ought to be well considered in undertaking cruises.

Table, shewing the proportional Prevalence of Sickness and Mortality in September

Transcriber’s Keys:

A Proportion of those taken ill in the Course of the Month.

B Proportion of Deaths, in relation to the Numbers of the Sick.

The proportion of deaths, in relation to the whole numbers on board, was one in three hundred and ninety-eight.

About one third of all the sick were sent to the hospital.

As the proportion of ulcers was uncommonly great, I thought it worth while to make a calculation of it. The Barfleur had the greatest number; and this ship, for causes I cannot assign, was more afflicted with bad ulcers than any other in the fleet, for several months together.

The fleet having arrived at New York in this unhealthy state, the first care was to make provision for the sick. There were somewhat more than fifteen hundred on the sick lists of all the ships, and the hospital could accommodate little more than six hundred. In order that it might not be overcrowded, and that each ship might have a just share of relief, I went round the fleet to ascertain the due proportion of those cases that were the most proper objects for being sent on shore. All the infectious and acute Complaints, and some of the worst scorbutics, were accordingly sent to the hospital. Those who were kept on board being chiefly such as were affected with the scurvy, were supplied with various refreshments in their respective ships, and seemed to recover as soon as if they had been sent on shore. They had indeed almost every advantage enjoyed by those at the hospital; for, besides fresh meat thrice a week, and spruce beer daily in common with the other seamen, each man on the sick list was supplied every week at the public expence with four pounds of apples and half a pound of sope. There were also thirty casks of limes taken in a prize, which were distributed among the scorbutic men, and proved of infinite use. Admiral Pigot’s great zeal for the good of the service, as well as his natural humanity, induced him to listen to whatever was proposed for the benefit of the men.

The supply of sope was a thing entirely new in the service; but the good effect of all the other articles would most probably have been defeated, unless the men had been furnished with the means of cleanliness, which is the most essential requisite of health. The advantage of this method will appear by the returns of next month to have been very conspicuous; and it was on this occasion more than any other that I saw realised in every particular the plan proposed in the memorial to the Admiralty. It may be added, that the sick that were left on board were not even without the recreation of the shore enjoyed by those at the hospital; for most of the captains had the attention to send daily on shore, for amusement and exercise, such as were able to walk. Thus there were all the advantages of an hospital obtained at much less expence to Government, and without the risque of intemperance, desertion, or infection, which are the inconveniencies connected with an hospital. What farther contributed to health at this time was, a large quantity of excellent wine with which the fleet was supplied.

Table, shewing the proportional Sickness and Mortality in October

Transcriber’s Keys:

A Proportion of those taken ill in the Course of the Month.

B Proportion of Deaths, in relation to the Numbers of the Sick.

The proportion of deaths in this month, in relation to the whole number on board, was only one in fourteen hundred and seventy-eight.

About one in twenty-nine of the sick was sent to the hospital.

There was, upon the whole, less sickness and mortality in this month than in any other during which I kept records of the fleet. This was, no doubt, owing in part to the climate, but was chiefly the effect of the extraordinary attention paid to the refreshments of the men. The fleet was here exactly in the same situation, and at the same season, two years before, but was not near so healthy.

Nor were the advantages derived from the great plenty of refreshments, procured at this time at New York, merely temporary; for the men’s constitutions were so much improved by them, that the part of the fleet which remained under the command of Lord Hood was at sea for twelve weeks without being affected by the scurvy. This was chiefly to be ascribed to the previous refreshments; for we have seen, that, in a passage of seven weeks from Jamaica to New York, the fleet was greatly affected with the scurvy, in consequence of not having had the advantages of fresh meat and vegetables when last in port. The climate had, no doubt, also a share in keeping off the scurvy; for the greater part of the twelve weeks was taken up in a cruise off St. Domingo; and, I believe, it never was known that a fleet was so long at sea, in a cold climate, without being greatly affected with this disease.

It appears, that though the proportion of fevers had increased somewhat this month over that of fluxes, yet the former were less fatal; and, I think, the true dysentery is more frequent in this climate, and more apt to prove fatal in its acute state, than in the West Indies. I have indeed preferred the term flux to that of dysentery, for this reason, that the symptoms in many cases did not rise so high as properly to constitute dysentery; and the disease proves fatal in the West Indies more frequently in the chronic than in the acute state. The fluxes were daily gaining ground when we left New York, and continued to prevail to a great degree in the Magnificent, which remained in that climate several weeks after us.

The climate and situation of the fleet had a greater effect in diminishing ulcers than any other complaints; for the proportion of them in this month is little more than one third of what it was in the last.

The calculation for October was made upon thirteen ships of the line, which sailed from New York on the 25th of that month.

The weather had then begun to grow cold; but few or none of the diseases peculiar to a cold climate had appeared. There occurred, while we were at New York, several cases of inflammation of the liver among the officers and men who came from the West Indies. It was remarked formerly, that this complaint hardly ever occurred in the West Indies; but it would appear that the residing there disposes to an inflammation of this organ upon changing to a colder climate.

The preceding summer had been uncommonly cold, not only in North America, but in the whole temperate part of the northern hemisphere, so far as I could learn by inquiry. In consequence of this, the crops failed in Europe, America, and the northern parts of Asia. The same circumstance had a remarkable effect on the reigning diseases of the season at New York; for, instead of the bilious complaints common in the end of summer and in autumn, a slight fever of the inflammatory kind had prevailed. An epidemic catarrh had spread all over Europe, and some part of Asia, in the earlier part of the year; and perhaps this was connected with the peculiar state of the atmosphere about this time. It was before observed, that there was something unusual in the state of the weather at Jamaica while the fleet lay there; and it is possible that this might be owing to the same general cause.

CHAP. VI

Account of the Health of the Fleet from its Departure from New York till the Conclusion of the War. – Passage to the West Indies – Account of the Ships there during our Absence – Arrival of a Squadron from England – Of these, two Ships only were healthy – Causes of this – Inflammatory Complaints in the Union – Probable Cause of these – Comparison of the two Squadrons – Increase of Sickness from Recruits brought from England – from French prisoners.

Thirteen ships of the line sailed from America for the West Indies on the 25th of October, under the command of Admiral Pigot, and the other half of the fleet was left under Lord Hood, to watch the motions of the French squadron, which was then at Boston.

The day on which we left the coast of America a storm came on, which lasted two days; but the rest of the passage being fair and moderate, we arrived at Barbadoes on the 20th of November, where the fleet continued for the remainder of the month.

All the above-mentioned squadron, except two ships, is comprehended in the calculation of the following table, and also the Magnificent, Prudent, and Nonsuch. The two last had continued in the West Indies, during our absence.

Table, shewing the Prevalence of Sickness and Mortality in November

Transcriber’s Keys:

A Proportion of those taken ill in the Course of the Month.

B Proportion of Deaths, in relation to the Numbers of the Sick.

About a sixth part of the whole sick were sent to the hospital this month, and one half of these were sent to the hospital at Halifax from the Magnificent.

The proportion of deaths this month, in relation to the whole number on board, was one in eight hundred and eighty-seven.

Fewer were taken ill this month than the preceding, but more in proportion died; which might partly be owing to the fleet having been more at sea, and partly to the change of climate.

Fevers were now more numerous, and also more fatal than any other disease; and we see them follow the contrary proportion to fluxes in the progress to the southward, that they did in our progress to the northward. These fevers prevailed chiefly in the Formidable and Warrior. In the former it first appeared among some men that had been pressed at New York from a privateer, some of whom were seized a few days after our arrival at Barbadoes with the yellow fever, and they were the only instances of it at this time in the fleet.

The scurvy continued to diminish, but the ulcers increased as we came into the torrid zone.

Diseases in general were so slight and so few at this time, that the whole squadron from America sent only forty-eight men to the hospital at Barbadoes from its arrival to the end of the month.

It may be proper here to give an account of some of the ships that remained on this station, while the main body of the fleet was in America.

The Prudent, when she left us, was extremely healthy, and continued so till a flux broke out in July, which was communicated by some men from a cartel, who were ill of this disease. It spread among the ship’s company, and prevailed for three months. The only deaths during the seven months that this ship was separated from the fleet were, two from flux, and one from scurvy, and only twenty-five were sent to hospitals. This is a proof how much more healthy the windward station is than that of Jamaica. The scurvy arose at one time, in a cruise of five weeks, though there was no appearance of it at another time in a cruise of six weeks. The cause of this seems to be the difference of the weather at the two periods; for it was very wet in the former, and very dry in the latter. The time in which this ship was most exposed to sickness was while she was under repair at Antigua, a situation in which hardly any ship escapes a severe visitation of sickness; yet this ship was not at all affected by it, which seemed to be owing to the uncommon pains taken by the captain to prevent the men from labouring in the sun during the hot part of the day.

The Nonsuch was five months separated from the fleet, during which time ten men died. Nine of these died of fevers, and one of the dysentery. She sailed from Jamaica for Barbadoes about the same time that the fleet sailed for North America, and was nine weeks on the passage. A fever was the prevailing disease, and the men probably inhaled the seeds of it at Jamaica, in common with most of the other ships’ companies that were there. The scurvy, which had formerly prevailed so much, appeared at this time; but it was in a very moderate degree, considering the length of the passage. None died of it, and few were so ill as to require being sent to the hospital. Had this ship gone into a colder climate, like the others, it would probably have prevailed to a greater degree. The whole number sent to the hospitals for various complaints, during the five months, was only thirteen.

The Nymph frigate was the only other ship left in the West Indies which is included in the tables. There happened only two deaths in her from June to October, both months included. One of these was from scurvy, the other from asthma. She was in that time upon two cruises, each of which lasted eight weeks. During the first the weather was dry and fine, and during the other it was wet and sultry, with the same effect upon health as in the Prudent; for in the second cruise the scurvy prevailed to a considerable degree, but not at all during the first. This disease was prevented from becoming violent or fatal, on either occasion, by the great attention of Mr. Anderson, the surgeon. He found great benefit from the essence of malt, when given early in the complaint; and some limes having been taken in a prize, while this disease was at the worst, the scorbutic men were so much recovered by the use of them, that they were all able to return to duty before the ship arrived in port.

DECEMBER

The whole squadron remained at anchor at Barbadoes, and nothing worth notice occurred till the arrival of a reinforcement of eight ships of the line, under Sir Richard Hughes, on the 8th of December. This squadron had been detached by Lord Howe, after the relief of Gibraltar, and the action with the combined fleets on the 20th of October. It consisted of one ship of 90 guns, one of 80, three of 74, and three of 64. They sailed from England on the 9th of September, and from that time till their arrival at Barbadoes they had not been in port, except for ten days that they were at Madeira, where they were supplied with fresh meat, fruit, and vegetables, by which means the scurvy, which had begun to prevail to a considerable degree, was almost entirely eradicated, and the health of the men was surprisingly restored, for so short a time.

When they joined us, however, there was a good deal of sickness on board of them all, except the Union and Ruby. The former had been more than three years in commission, and in that time had never been sickly, and had now all the advantages of a long-established and well-regulated ship’s company. All the rest had been newly commissioned and manned when they left England. The superior health of the Ruby was owing to her having been manned with the crews of other ships, some of which had just arrived from the West Indies; whereas the others had been manned chiefly by draughts of pressed men from guardships, or by raw volunteers, of whom a great many were raised in Ireland about this time. The Bellona and Berwick having been somewhat longer in commission than the rest, were less sickly.

The following tables will shew the comparative state of health of the squadron formerly on the station with that which had newly arrived from England.

Table, shewing the Prevalence of Sickness and Mortality in the old Squadron, in December

Transcriber’s Keys:

A Proportion of those taken ill in the Course of the Month.

B Proportion of Deaths, in relation to the Numbers of the Sick.

The proportion of the deaths this month to the whole number of men belonging to this part of the fleet, was one in eleven hundred and two. There were fifty-six sent to the hospital, which was one in eighteen of all the sick.

Table, shewing the Prevalence of Sickness and Mortality in the new Squadron, in December

Transcriber’s Keys:

A Proportion of those taken ill in the Course of the Month.

B Proportion of Deaths, in relation to the Numbers of the Sick.

The proportion of the deaths this month to the whole number of men belonging to this part of the fleet, was one in four hundred and forty.

There were one hundred and eighty-nine sent to the hospital; but the proportion to the whole number of sick cannot be ascertained, as we do not know how many were on the list on the first of the month.

The increase of fevers in the old squadron was chiefly owing to their having spread in the Nonsuch; and they seemed to partake more of that kind which originates in jails and ships, than of that which is peculiar to the climate. The body of one of the men who died of this fever was inspected at the hospital, and there was found to be inflammation and even perforation of the intestines, without any previous symptom that could lead to expect such an appearance, a circumstance more likely to happen in the former sort of fever than the latter.

The increase of scurvy was owing to the numbers that were taken ill of it in the Magnificent on the passage from Halifax, from whence she sailed in the beginning of this month, and joined the fleet at Barbadoes in the end of it. There was a great deal of sickness in this ship at Halifax, and on the passage, owing to the want of such clothing as was suitable to that severe climate. One of the principal complaints was an inflammatory sore throat.

There was no change in the situation of the fleet, only that four ships of the line were sent on the 16th to cruise near Guadaloupe, and they continued at sea till the beginning of February.

The new squadron was much afflicted with the jail fever, brought from England; and it was much more prevalent, as well as malignant, on board of the Suffolk than any of the rest. During the passage it prevailed most in the Princess Amelia, not less than twenty having died of it. It subsided in this ship before she arrived in the West Indies; but on board of the Suffolk it continued to rage for some months after.

As the hospital at Barbadoes was too small to contain all the sick of this squadron, only the cases of greatest danger and the most infectious were sent on shore, and those that remained were provided with fresh vegetables and milk on board of their own ships, in the same manner as had been formerly practised with such success on similar occasions. This was continued for four weeks, during which time they all got into tolerable health, except the Suffolk.

There appeared, by the returns of the new squadron, to be a greater number under the head of “Other Complaints,” which was owing to the number of pulmonic complaints, the consequence of the influenza which prevailed in Europe, at sea, as well as on shore, in the spring and beginning of the summer of this year.

Though inflammatory complaints are rare in this climate, yet in a few of the ships there was some appearance of them; and I remarked that they occurred in those ships which were in other respects most healthy, and most free from infection. A good many of the men were seized with inflammatory sore throats in the Bellona a few days before she arrived at Barbadoes, and this was in other respects the most healthy ship next to the Union and Ruby. In the Union there was no violent acute complaint whatever, which was very singular among so great a body of men; but several rheumatisms, coughs, and catarrhs, arose in her this month, and there even occurred two pleurisies in the following month. The bowel complaints which occurred on board of this ship were also of an inflammatory nature. These distempers seemed to proceed from accidental exposure and irregularity; and is it not highly probable that these causes, instead of producing local inflammatory complaints, might have been the means of exciting bad fevers and fluxes, as in the other ships, had the men been equally predisposed to them, by living in foul air, or under the influence of infection?

The following tables will shew the comparative state of health of the two squadrons in the three first months of next year.

Table, shewing the Prevalence of Sickness and Mortality in the old Squadron in January, 1783

Transcriber’s Keys:

A Proportion of those taken ill in the Course of the Month.

B Proportion of Deaths, in relation to the Numbers of the Sick.

The mortality this month, in relation to the whole number on board, was one in twelve hundred and fifty-seven. About one fifteenth of all the sick were sent to the hospital.

Table, shewing the Prevalence of Sickness and Mortality in the new Squadron in January, 1783

Transcriber’s Keys:

A Proportion of those taken ill in the Course of the Month.

B Proportion of Deaths, in relation to the Numbers of the Sick.

The proportion of deaths to the whole number on board was one in five hundred and forty. About one in thirty of all the sick were sent to the hospital.

Table, shewing the Prevalence of Sickness and Mortality in the old Squadron in February

Transcriber’s Keys:

A Proportion of those taken ill in the Course of the Month.

B Proportion of Deaths, in relation to the Numbers of the Sick.

The proportion of deaths to the whole number on board was one in sixteen hundred and ninety-seven. One ninth of all the sick were sent to the hospital.

Table, shewing the Prevalence of Sickness and Mortality in the new Squadron in February

Transcriber’s Keys:

A Proportion of those taken ill in the Course of the Month.

B Proportion of Deaths, in relation to the Numbers of the Sick.

The proportion of deaths to the whole number was one in twelve hundred and seventy-six. The proportion sent to the hospital was the same this month as in the other part of the squadron.