,oo L Ó R D A N S O N ' S V O Y A G E
which being to the northward ó f the Stt'eights o f Magellan, we
were allured that We had compléàted oür pâffagê, and had arrived
in the confines of thé fouthern Ocean ; and this Ocean being denominated
Pacifick, from the equability of the feaföhs which are Said
to prevail there, and the facility and fecurity With which navigation
is there carried on, we doubted not but we ffiould be fpeedily
Cheâred: with the moderate gates* the fmooth Water, and the temperate
air, for which that trait o f the globe has been fo renowned.
And, Under the influence o f thefe pleafing circumftUtvces, Wê hoped
to experience fome kind o f compenfation for the complicated mife-
ries, which had So tonftantly attended us for the laft eight weeks.
But here we were again disappointed ; for, in the Succeeding month
■ o f May, onr Suffering's rofe to a much higher pitch than they had
ever yet done, whether we confider the violence o f the ftotnas, the"
Blattering of our fails and rigging, or the diminilhing and Weakening
of our crew by deaths and fickneft, and the probable profpefk
of our total deftruaion. All this will be Sufficiently evident, from
the following circumftantM account of our diverfified misfortunes.
Soon after Our paffing Streights. L e Maire, the Scurvy began to
make ife appearance amongft us ; and our long continuance at fea>
the fatigue we underwent, and the various disappointments we met
with, .had ©ccafioned its {pfèadiug to Such a degree, that, at the
latter end o f April, there were but few on board who were not in.
Some degree afflifted with it ; and that month fto loft than forty-
three died of it oil board the Centurion. But though we thought
that the diftemper had then rifen to an extraordinary height, and:
were willing to hope, that as we advanced to the northward, its-
malignity would abate:, yet we found, on the contrary, that in the:
month of May we loft near double that number: and, as we did
not get to land till the middle o f June, the mortality went on in~
crealing ; and the difeafe extended itfelf fo prodigioufly, that, after
the lofs Of above two hundred men^. we could not, at laft, mufter.
more than.fix, fore-maft men in.a. watch capable of duty.
This-
This difeafe, fo frequently attending long voyages, and fo particularly
deftruflive to us, is furely the molt Angular and unaccountable
of any that affefts the human body t its Symptoms are inconftant
and innumerable, and its progref* andeffefts extremely irregular;,
for Scarcely any two perfons have complaints exactly refembling
each other ; and where there hath been, found fome conformity in
the Symptoms,-the order o f their appearance has been totally different.
However, though it frequently puts on the form,of many other-
difeafes-, and is therefore not to be defcribed by any exclufive and infallible
criterions ; yet there are fome Symptoms whichare more general
than the reft, and, occurring the ofteneft, defervea more particular
enumeration. Thefe common appearances are M p d jN b -
loured fpots, difperfed over the whole furface of the body, lwelled-
tegs, putrid gums, and, above all, an extraordinary laffitude of the
whole body, especially after any exercife, however inconfiderable t.
and this laffitude at laft degenerates into a .pronenefs to fwoon, and
even die, on the leaft exertion o f ftrength, or even on the leaft
motion. , . - .
This difeafe is likewife ufually attended with a ftratige dejeaiou..
©f the Spirits, and with fhiverings, tremblings, and a dilpofition to-
be Seized with the moft dreadful terrors on the flighted accident..
Indeed it was moft remarkable, in all our reiterated experience o€
this malady, that whatever difcouraged our people, or at anytime
dampedtheir hopes, never failed to add new vigour to the diftemj-
per; for it ufually killed thofe who were in the laft ftages-of.it, and
Confined thofe to-their hammocks, who were before capable of feme-
kind o f dut y f o that it feemed as i f alacrity of mind, and fanguine:
thoughts, were no-contemptible prefervatives- from its fatal malignity.
But it- is notreafy to compleat the long roll o f the various concomitants
of this difeafe;. for. it'often produeedputrid1 fevers, pleu-
tifies, the jaundice, and violent rheumatick pains, and fometimes«
it occafioned: an obftinate coftivenefs, which was-generallyattendedi
with. a. difficulty o f breathing; and this w as -efteemed-the moft:
deadly