m7£ de lidous flavour, were exceedingly abundant in this bay.
« ' The Difcovery’s people furrounded, at one time, fo great a
quantity in their feine, that they were obliged to throw a
vail number out, left the net fhould be broken to pieces ;
and the cargo they landed was afterward fo plentiful, that,
beiides a fufficient ftore for immediate ufe, they filled as
many calks as they could fpare for fa ltin g ; and, after fendin
g to the Refolution > a fufficient quantity fo r the fame
purpofe, they left feveral bufhels behind on the beach.
The fnow now began to difappear very rapidly, and abundance
o f w ild garlic, celery, and nettle tops were gathered
fo r the ufe o f the c r ew s ; w h ich being boiled w ith wheat
and portable foup, made them a wholefome and comfortable
breakfaft; and with this they w ere fupplied every m ornin
g. T h e birch-trees were alfo tapped, and the fweet ju ice ,
which they yielded in great quantities, was conftantly mixed
w ith the men’s allowance o f brandy.
shuidajr I* T h e next day, a fmall bullock, which had been procured
fo r the ffiips companies by the ferjeant, was- k i l le d ; and
■weighed two hundred and feventy-two pounds. It was
ferved out to both crews for their Sunday’s dinner, being
the firft piece o f f r e ih beef they had tailed fince our departure
from the Cape o f Good Hope in December 1776, a
period o f near two y ea rs and a half..
This evening died John Macintoffi, the carpenter’s mate,
afrer having laboured under a dyfentery ever fince our departure
from the Sandwich Iflands: he was a very hard
w o rk in g quiet man, and much regretted by his mefs-mates-
He was the fourth perfon w e loft by ficknefs during the
•v o y a g e ; but the firft who could be faid, from his age, and
the conftitutional habits o f his body, to have had, on our
fetting;
fetting out, an equal chance with the reft o f his comrades:
Watman, w e fuppofed to be. about fixty years o f age ; and 1
Roberts, and Mr. Anderfop, fro,m the decay, which had
evidently commenced before w e le ft England, could not,
in a ll probability, under any circumftances, have lived a
greater length o f time than they did.
I have already mentioned, that Captain Clerke’s health
continued daily to decline, notvyithftanding the falutary
change o f diet, which the country o f Kamtfchatka afforded
him. T h e prieft o f Paratounca, as foon as he heard o f the
infirm ftate he was in, fupplied him every day w ith bread,
m ilk , fre ih butter, and fowls, though his houfe was fixteen
miles from the harbour where we lay.
On our firft arrival, w e found the Ruffian hofpitai, which
is near the town o f St. Peter and St. Paul, in a condition truly
deplorable. A ll the foldiers were, more or lefs, affedted by
the fcurvy, and a great many in the laft ftage o f that disorder.
T he reft o f the Ruffian inhabitants were alfo in the
fame condition; and w e particularly remarked, that our
friend the ferjeant, by makin g too free with the fpirits we
gave him, had brought on himfe lf, in the courfe o f a few
days, fome o f the moft alarming fymptoms o f that malady.
In this lamentable ftate, Captain Clerke put them all under
the care o f our furgeons, and ordered a fupply o f four krout,
and malt, fo r wort, to be furniffied for their ufe. It was
aftoniffiing to obferve the alteration in the figures o f al-
moft every perfon we met on our return from Bolcheretlk;
and I was informed, by our furgeons, that they attributed
their fpeedy recovery principally to the effedls o f the fweet
wort.
1779-
May.
on