^ THIRTY FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST, 189 



ver^e of despair. In this perplexity he addressed himself 

 to me, with the avowal, that the medicines he c;ot from the 

 surfreon were not worth a penny, and that if I could n^t 

 assist him, he mtist die. I asked him, whether he had ever 

 been affected with syphilitic disease, which he admitted 

 to have been the case many years before. I, therefore, 

 acquainted the suri^eon with this circumstance, and advised 

 him to administer decoction of sarsaparilla to the patient. 

 There was none on board, however, at that time, but, when 

 we reached the Cape, the surgeon procured a supply, and 

 be^an to administer it. The impatient colonel, not finding 

 instant relief, again gave vent to his exclamations, telling 

 me that the beverage was of no service ; 1 persuaded him, 

 however, to persevere ; after a fortnight, he acknowledged 

 himself to be considerably better ; and, in a month, he was 

 completely restored to health. The second case was that of 

 a child of twelve months, which, from difficulty in cutting 

 its teeth, was afiflicted with convulsions, could not enjoy any 

 food, became visibly weak, and every one felt certain that 

 the child could not live many days. Leeches, scarification 

 of the gums, warm baths, lenitives, and purgatives, had all 

 been used, to no purpose. On perceiving the desperite 

 state of the child, I inquired of the surgeon whether he 

 had tried blistering, and on finding he had not, advised 

 him to do so ; he accordingly applied two ( one behind 

 each ear ) and from that moment the spasms ceased, the 

 teething began, and the child grew better. 



Divine service was regularly performed on board the 

 ship, the captain performing it every Sunday, morning and 

 evening. There were about two hundred persons on board, 

 but, we nevertheless had plenty of provisions ; in fact, we 

 may be said to have fared luxuriously ; for, besides an 

 abundance of necessary food, we had pastry of some kind 

 or other daily, as well as delicious cakes for dessert, and 

 many sorts of wines, malt liquor, and spirits. Twice a-week 

 champagne was served at our table. One day we met with 

 not fewer than nine ships, with some of which we entered 

 into communication, inquiring the name of the vessel, whence 



