42 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 



Since the commencement of the rains eveiy additional 

 precaution was taken to guard against the effects of tlie 

 damp sultry weather on the people ; thej were never 

 exposed to the rain when it could be avoided, and when 

 unavoidably wetted, they were obliged to put on dry clothes 

 as soon as possible, occasionally receiving a small glass of 

 spirits when shifted. The humidity of the air between 

 decks was dried up by frequent fires, and the bedding often 

 aired. The large quantity of water I had shipped in 

 the river enabled me to afford a proportion for Avashing the 

 people's clothes twice a vvcek, until now, when tlie rain 

 water saved by the awnings was put by for the purpose. 



From the very commencement of the voyage, I had much 

 difficulty in forcing the observance of general regulations for 

 cleanliness, and the consequent preservation of health on the 

 transport's crew ; for the master and mates, like the genera- 

 lity of merchant seamen, considering all such regulations as 

 useless, took no steps to enforce them, nor could I even get 

 the hammocks brought on deck after our arrival in the 

 warm latitudes, until I had recourse to coercion, and the 

 punishment at the gangway of one of the most refractory 

 of the crew, which effectually broke up the confederacy 

 that seemed to have been formed to resist all my orders on 

 this subject. 



