their whaling vessels? constantly took a, quantity.with' them to
gea, to eat raw, as an antidote.against the scurvy. lie had
planted a garden here, as was the-custom with ves^els^visiting
this-place, and h e : brought isomo potatoes fresh dug, from it,
which he recommended -, nae-, to taste, after - setting, .me an
etcamplefejl complied, and must. say I have before, taken-'a
more’ unpalatable medicine. - - Hiq«made use of the young leaves
of the common dock, boiling them as cabbage, to eat with his
meat. He stripped the leaf from the rib or stem in the middle,-
which he said had a purgative quality. ; He made no.p^e of the
celery, ,.ak he: thought the dock was preferable* to it. I dinp4
with him on board his ship, when- a dish of,the latter vegetable
was served upon table, and upon eating it I„ thought its taste
not unpleasant.
Some!of our people, as I suspect, had wantonl^%&hfire to
thetfuss&ck, and there, being a breeze- the flames spread with
gre'at so th a t our .endeavours to-extinguish it-provedyinef^
ffectual. Althougfowe had a heavy rain for two days, y e t Io to
served it was -still burning. When I considered that this- was
the season: for hatching, 1 was greatly concerned to thinkr^ the
destruction amongst th&geese^penguins, and other fowls, which
such mischievous wantonness must occasion, especidfly,a8.future
visitors, in*thp same distress as we were, might suffer inconyeg
nieneesthroughit.
. The rocks here are remarkably slippery,.so that it is a proper
precaution against accident to be, provided with what the sailors
term rtwckamm,, which are sandals cut from the seal or other
soft pliable skin, and wore as shoes. For want of this preventive
against slipping: I had nearly met with a fatal accident;
for as I was.in pursuit of a flock ofgeesey I fell with piny piece
loaded, which went off, and the powder-horn slung under my
arm exploded at the same time. I t was a ship’s powder-horn,
. an d
andfeontaiiied’nearly a pound- of powder,.’ hut,' providentially,
Jv-eseapeff-without; any ©jfhe^hurt -than my haqds being slightly
scotohed, and my hair'a .little -singed.» * ■
Bj? fhis tynqfour cre.yfove,re pretty well refreshed. None of,
thfem had been .attacked, with.fhe^Quiyy, notwithstanding the.
pppruegis- erf their diet, theiy beifg, almost cpnstantly wet from
toe quantity, of water th 'e r^ se l shipped, and their labour at the
pump. I had had--some-painful-apprphensidn&.'of their proving
sick, - and- had endeavoured- to prevent it,, by|.^e,eping them as
clean and e^y below as possiblej^fol making them shift themselves
frequentlytV These, precautions,: with the necfesSaryexer-
cfetookfh^ pump, I have tkq’satisfaction to think ^contributed
to.keep them in And I am inclined to as: |u -
migatoqns ‘;ai'i» found tp be of servicein.^^ Gorrehtion of foul air
between dqpfe^smpaking tpbacco has . its use ; I would there-
forelrather^Scourage men to^smoak tobacco- than -to chew it«
, All things “ being -ready for -.our .departure, " wC sailed from
Falkland’s Islands for-the Chpe of Good Hope on the, 27th of
January, witfodS favourable wind, which began tq.fail us as soon
as we reache<Mhe.island of Tristan da Cunfia. We were, now
becalmed; and this was our situation front about the middle of
February to nearly the latter end ofJVIareh—a dreadfoliintervai
of time 1-^-rthe like o f which I most devoutly pray I m;ay never
again experience.
. We had reckoned upon falling in with the Cape early in
March, and our stock of provisions began, to fall short muoh
about that time ; and further to add to, ojur-distress, pur water-
casks leaked, and we had lost a part of |our water* I t will be
recollected that! :we were ill provided with .bread- on our first
sailing from Port Jackson. By the. end of February this neees-r
sary article of our provisions totally failed, and I found , myself
reduced to a single biscuit. When we had no other prospect
before