INTRODUCTION. 19 



the ship to be supphed with a considerable quan- 

 tity of these provisions, and they were of the 

 greatest use to Lieutenant Kotzebue and his com- 

 panions ; this meat being often the only refresh- 

 ment that he had to give to the sick. Mr. Donkin*s 

 discovery, though it may not seem important, is 

 undoubtedly one of the greatest use to navigators. 

 Not taking into account the importance of being 

 provided, even for the longest voyages, wdth fresh 

 provisions, without requiring much room, which 

 could formerly be done, and that for a com- 

 paratively short time, only by taking on board a 

 number of living animals, which in ships of war 

 are always in the way, and for which a large stock of 

 food, hay, and water must likewise be taken on 

 board* ; andw^hich, in spite of every precaution, may 

 be suddenly lost, for instance, in a storm ; passing 

 over these great advantages, the discovery is of the 

 liighest importance to the sick, taking it for granted 

 that the preservation of the health of the crew is 

 of importance. Some strong soup, or nourishing 

 diet, can often save the hfe of a patient, where 

 medicine is no longer of any avail ; this is espe- 

 cially the case in scorbutic patients, of whom, in- 



* That such a stock may prove dangerous appears from the 

 dreadful example of the Queen Charlotte, of 120 guns, which 

 was burnt in the roads of Leghorn, in 1805. The cause of the 

 misfortune was, that the hay on board, not having been imme- 

 diately cleared away, was set fire to by a candle carelessly 

 brought near it. 



c 2 



