17*87, a Hoop bound, to the coaft of - Africa, belonging to thé
boufe of Mether in London ; had been out four months, and
was then Handing to the weftward.',
The wind continuing adverfe, and the fleet’making little
progrefs in them voyage, Captain Phillip'put the óificersjj»fea-
men, marines,- and conviéfs to an allowance óf three.pints of
water per day (not including a quart allow.ed^daoh man a
day for boiHrigM peafe and oa tmea l^ a quantity? fcdieely
fufficient to fuppl-y that wafte o f animal fpiriisfthe body, muffe
neceflarily .undergo, in the torrid zone, from a conftantr?and
violent perfpiration, and a- dièt confilling’ of lalt., ptoviflons';
Neceffity,- however, has' no law in . this inftanee -as well as
in every other,; and I am fully perfuaded- the commander
adted upon this. oecafionl jfrom the belt of ffiotives; and for
the good o f' the whole. 1 Were it hy any. fneans poffible,
people fubjedt- to lóng/voyages ffiould never be put to a fhort
allowance of watery for Lamfatisfied that a libetal ufe of. it
- (when .freed from.-the foul air, and made fwèet by a.'ma-
chine now in jufe _on r board his Majeily’s-- nafy) will
tend to prevent a. feorbntic habit, as much, i f not more;
than any thing we ate acquainted With; My rown jex-ü
perienee in: the navy has./convinced me, that when fcorbutic
buticrupati.ehts; are reftfained ;in the ufe^.of water (which
I beljeve, lit' Jnev^Hhe^cafe-. but through abfolute- neceffity),
and.they havei/nothing- tq. live-on but »the,{hip’s
provifion, .the furgeon’ s neceffarieis being;-ill-chofeh land very
inadequate to the wife-, stjid falutary purppfes-j-for which government
intended them;,;all the antifeptics and.antifcorbu-*
ti]gs we hno Wtofiwill avail very little imadifeafedq much to be
gvllfded*-againft,and dreaded, by feameu.j In one of his Ma-r
|,efty S;lh^ps5;-Fwaadihefally fupplied with that powerful anti-
jeqrbuvticf eflence/ef toal,t,^we'had> alfol four krout; and be>
jHd'es thefe,, ;every; remedy;that, could, jbe comprifed in the
fmaH^lompafs^-o^-fa medicine ;c,heil; *y|t/when neceffity
forced us-‘ tQ’a‘fhor;t allpwancebfwater’, although, aware of the
Confetjuence,. I freely 'admini/lpted* -the eflendg^Ssc^a^a-pre-t
fervative, the fdurvy made its, appeararice with fuch hafty and
rapid fltid^|that all attempts, to., check, it; proyed fruitlefs,
untd^ood fortune threw a ffiip in .QUf;W%y> who {pared- us a
fufficient -quantity of water-to fefve the fink with, a'S touch as
they could ufe, and; toincre-afe, thef,fhip’s allowance to the
lff|tmenv This fortynaSte and vfcjry feaffpnable fupply, added
,to 'the free,ufe of the eflence of malt, &c.;which I had before
F 2 ftri'&ly