120 THE SEA. 



those served out in the navy of the Republic. Owing to the carefully prepared dietary 

 of our Royal Navy, scurvy has entirely disappeared, except in extreme cases of exposure 

 and lack of precaution, as in the late Arctic Expedition.* 



" In the West India Docks, which contain vessels trading- to the West Indies, I 

 observed a very different class of ships. Some are large and well supplied with provisions, 

 but the majority are small, with wretched accommodation, badly manned, provisions 

 indifferent in quality and deficient in quantity. Even in the larger vessels there is not that 

 care taken of the men, and that amount - of attention paid to their quarters and to the nature 

 of their provisions, as iu the ships belonging to the owners engaged in the East Indian 

 and China trade. Captain Henry Toynbee strongly advocates the better ventilation and 

 comfort of the forecastles, which he thinks should be under the control of Government. 

 He has himself seen forecastles and seamen's chests in first-class ships black from the gas 

 which rises from the cargo, and which smells like sewage, which is especially the case in 

 sugar ships. Captain Toynbee informed me a day or two since that he had actually seen 

 a place containing two packs of foxhounds and three horses, which received half its ventilation 

 by a hatch which opened into the sailors' forecastle ! 



" In the Commercial Docks are to be seen both English and foreign ships, varying in 

 size and class, most of which are in the timber trade, and have arrived from Norway, 

 Sweden, or Memel, or the Baltic. The number of patients taken from ships in these docks 

 to the Dreadnought hospital ship usually exceeds that from any other dock; but the cases 

 are those not of scurvy, but consumption, bronchitis, and other chest diseases, which occur 

 not so frequently in English sailors as in Norwegians, Swedes, and Russians a fact due 

 more, I think, to national predispositions than to hygienic conditions. In ships belonging 

 to northern countries the provisions are abundant and good, the men's quarters are roomy, 

 and there is nearly always a house upon deck in which there is a fair amount of space 

 and good ventilation. The hygienic condition of the men on board Swedish and Norwegian 

 ships is far superior to that of the ships of our own country; the chief fault is the 

 extremely dirty and lazy habit of the men themselves, who allow filth of all kinds to 

 accumulate in the deck-house and galley, without taking the slightest trouble to remove it. 

 In English ships belonging to owners in the timber trade the state of things is disgraceful ; 

 a house on deck is an exception, and the men live and sleep in a small, close, ill-ventilated 

 hole called a forecastle. The quality of provisions varies in different ships, some owners 

 being more liberal than others; most of the men, however, live upon salt meat and 

 biscuit, and sometimes a little salt fish. Timber in itself is considered a healthy cargo, 

 but the ship is in most cases so overladen that the forecastle is very much reduced in 

 size too much so, considering the number of men that form the crew; these have either 

 to remain on deck exposed to wet and cold, or have to breathe the foul atmosphere of a 

 small forecastle, in which are stowed rusty chains, wet ropes, and all kinds of animal 

 decaying matter 



The vessels used for the coal trade are now principally screw steamers, though there are 



* An excess of that very aliment, the absence of which produces scurvy, will also induce disease. Thus, the 

 negroes of the West Indies live too exclusively on vegetables, and disease follows, the remedy for which is usually 

 red herrings herrings salted and smoked till they are as red as copper. 



