38 Crossing the Line 



1713, continued 



appear when the wind rises. It is true that a person who is already ill may be 

 affected by the want of air and die, and water and eatables may suffer, but 

 experience shows that bad jars, or keeping water below deck without air, or 

 even the bad quahty of the water, may cause putrefaction. It is well known 

 that water from the Isle of Mauritius will keep good during a long voyage, 

 while that from Martinique soon becomes turbid and full of animalcules. 

 This need not, however, create alarm. Bringing the jars on deck and exposing 

 the water to the air and, better still, filtering it through white linen, will make 

 it fit to drink. 



( Ippolito Desideri. An account of Tibet. The travels of Ippolito Desideri 

 of Pistoia, S. J., 1712-1727. Edited by Filippo de Filippi. London: Rout- 

 ledge, 1932. The Broadway Travellers, p. 54r-55.) 



1720 



We past the Tropick, attended by the Tropick-Birds, a Fowl something bigger 

 than a Pidgeon; but one would think, as it flies, it had an xmlighted Candle 

 fix'd in its Tail. I caimot let go the Ceremony of passing this Tropick: When 

 you are in the Latitude, the old Sailors ask the rest of the Ship's Crew, 

 Whether they were ever that way before? If not, they must either pay a 

 Bottle and Pound (as they call it) or be duck'd: They that don't pay, are 

 fix'd to a Rope at the Main-Yard-Arm, and duck'd three Times in the Sea; at 

 which the rest of the Crew Huzza 1 and fire a VoUey of Small-shot. 



When Admiral Benbow went with his Squadron of Men of War, the whole 

 Fleet duck'd, but the Admiral gave 'em Notice, by first firing a Gun, which was 

 immediately foUow'd with a VoUey of Muskets, and Huzzaing, by eveiy Ship 

 in the Fleet. A Day or two before our Account is out, we send a Man to the 

 Topmast-head, in order to discover Land, where he stays an Hour, and looks 

 about him: He that discovers it first, is rewarded with a Bottle and Pound: 

 that is, a Bottle of Rimi, and a Pound of Sugar, which is demanded as soon as 

 the Anchor is cast in a Place where such Commodities are to be had. Now the 

 Bottles and Pounds that accrue from the People that are not willing to be 

 duck'd, in passing the Tropick, are reserv'd by the old Sailors for a merry Bout, 

 when safe in Harbour; which must not be touch'd by the fresh Men, as they 

 call 'em. 



(Richard Falconer. The voyages, dangerous adventures and imminent 

 escapes of Captain Richard Falconer. London, 1720. p. 11-13. The Li- 

 brary of Congress catalogue notes William Ruf us Chetwood as author. ) 



This time it is of course the Tropic of Cancer that is crossed, and the reference to Benbow is 

 probably to the 1698 expedition rather that of 1708. I find no record that Benbow was ever 

 south of the equator. All accounts of baptism at "the tropic" are for Tropic of Cancer. Hen- 

 ningsen, loc. cit., has three references for crossing at Capricorn, but each is wrong if the 

 chronology of the voyage is to be trusted. 



