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.
| DISEASES. | A | B |
|---|---|---|
| ONE IN | ||
| Fevers | 11 | 55 |
| Fluxes | 86 | 0 |
| Scurvy | 107 | 0 |
| Ulcers | 191 | 0 |
| Other Complaints | 56 | 54 |
| General Proportion | 5 | 64 |
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.