Observations on the Diseases of Seamen

by Sir Gilbert Blane

The diseases and deaths under the head of “Other Complaints,” is much more numerous in this month than usual, which is chiefly owing to the preceding actions with the enemy, and to the prevalence of the small pox. Of the deaths under this head, seventeen were in consequence of wounds, six from small pox, one from a mortification[10] in the shoulder, and one from consumption.

None of the epidemics affected one part of the squadron more than another, except that the ships last from England had a less proportion of the flux than the rest; and the few cases of this disease that were in these ships arose after their arrival in the climate. The Conqueror and Fame, which were the two most sickly ships, had no complaints but fevers.

The fevers had now begun to take on some of the characteristic symptoms of the climate; the chief of which is a greater abundance of bile. In the Repulse, two men had the yellow colour of the skin, which is so peculiar to the fevers of this climate.

The crew of the Anson caught an infectious fever from a guardship in England; and when the Prothée sailed, there was a fever of the same kind on board; but from the change of climate, the symptoms became milder, and the disease disappeared in both these ships in the course of this month.

The small pox prevailed more at this time in the fleet than I have ever known it to do either before or since, and that both in the squadron from England and in that from North America. There were six cases in the Formidable, all of which did well, though two were of the confluent kind.

Though there needs hardly any additional proof of the extraordinary efficacy of lemon juice in curing the scurvy, yet it may be of service to impress so useful a truth on the mind by mentioning such striking proofs of it as occurred from time to time. The Arrogant spoke with a Portuguese vessel near Madeira, from which some of this fruit was procured, and the only scorbutic man on board happening to have some of the most desperate symptoms, such as putrid gums, contracted hams, the calves of the leg hard and livid, and frequent faintings, a fair opportunity offered for trying its virtues. The man was allowed two of them daily, and was perfectly well in sixteen days, during all which time the ship was at sea, so that it was impossible to ascribe the cure to any other cause.

The fleet remained at St. Lucia from the 1st till the 18th of March, completing the water, provisions and stores, landing the sick at the hospital, and also watching the motions of the enemy, who arrived about the same time at Martinico from the siege of St. Christopher’s. During this time we were reinforced with the Duke, of 90 guns, and the Warrior and Valiant, of 74 guns, from England. On the 18th the whole fleet, except the Invincible, which was detached with a convoy to Jamaica, sailed on a cruise to windward of Martinico, in quest of a French convoy expected from Europe; which having eluded us, and got into their own harbour, the whole fleet returned to St. Lucia on the 30th of March, excepting the Prudent, which was sent to Barbadoes.

We found at St. Lucia the Magnificent, of 74, and the Agamemnon, of 64 guns, which were the last reinforcement of this campaign, making the British fleet on this station amount to forty ships of the line, a much greater force than was ever before employed on foreign service. They were all copper bottomed.

The weather continued fine all this month, yet there was some increase of sickness, owing chiefly to the hardship the men underwent in wooding and watering. In Choc Bay, where the fleet watered, there was at this time a higher surf than was ever remembered, which made the operation of watering (at all times noxious in this climate) uncommonly toilsome and dangerous. It was, indeed, next to impracticable; for many longboats were staved on the beach, by which several men had their limbs broken, and some lost their lives, by being crushed or drowned; but the necessity of the service admitted of no relaxation or delay. There was no increase of wind to account for this surf, so that it was owing either to something in the currents, or to some subterraneous cause; and there had been felt at Barbadoes and St. Lucia, about this time, a slight shock of an earthquake[11], to which many imputed this extraordinary surf. In other respects, there were fewer causes of sickness than usually occur to a fleet in port in this part of the world; for the air of the road is remarkably pure, and there were fewer temptations and opportunities of intemperance than at the other islands.

The monthly returns of the surgeons were very full and complete; but as it would be tedious to insert at length those of every particular ship, and as the number of ships fluctuated in different months, I shall do no more hereafter than set down the general results from calculation, so as to shew the proportional prevalence of disease and mortality in each month.