. 1 . 
George Anso n, ' UJq % 
firft thing they did was to fend their Scats on fhore, with 
Spars and Sails to make Tents, or at leaft a kind of covered 
Huts, for the Conveniency of the Sick ; in the. fixing of 
which the Commodore not only gate his Directions, but 
a pitted in Perfort, and furnifhed whatever was thought re- 
quifite for People in their Condition by the Surgeon, out of 
his own Stores •, for, as his Temperance had preferved his 
Health, it now furnifhed him with the additional Pleafure 
of fupplying the Sick with what another Man would have 
jfpent at his own Table, The Ship’s Company w r as, indeed* 
in a moll dreadful Condition : Out of upwards of 500, 
> which were on board the Centurion when they left England, 
there were not now 200 left ; and the far greateft Part of 
thefe in a moft miferable Condition, into which they were 
reduced by the Scurvy * a Difeafe fo much the more terrible, 
a as it produces various, and yet alike frightful, Symptoms 
tin different Conftitutions. Some who were feized with it 
loft the Ufe of their Limbs, and of their Senfes j fo that it 
( was difficult to diftinguifh, except by their low moaning 
Noife, whether they were alive or dead. It affedfed others, 
by difordering their Brains, and this even to a degree of 
Madnefs ; which made them terrible to others, as well as 
’iifelefs to themfelves. A third fort had their Spirits greatly 
ideprefled, a general Laffitude, accompanied with a Short- 
■ nefs of Breath •, and it was obferved, that thefe were foon 
carried off. It feems unworthy of an Hiftorian to lay 
down Faffs of this Nature, without inquiring a little into 
: their Caufe * for to talk of the Scurvy, as a Difeafe adting 
fuch different Cruelties on the Bodies of Men, may excite 
. the Cdmpaffion, and raife the Admiration, of Readers ; 
it but will hardly, I think, fatisfy their Judgments. The 
si very learned Ramazini, as well as other Phyficians, have 
I accurately treated this- Difeafe * and therefore, from them, I 
f fhall borrow the Helps neceffary to explain it. 
The Scurvy, then, may be defined to be an ill Habit of 
Body, occafioned by the manner of living at Sea, and 
fhewing itfelf according to the natural Habits of thofe up- 
on whom it feizes. To enter more particularly into the 
Matter : The Air, to which Seamen are continually expofed, 
i is always fait and moift, and, in the Climate of which we 
’ are now fpeaking, exceedingly quick and cold. Their 
Diet, for the moft part, is fait Meat, which they are not 
: able to dilute with fufficient Quantities of Liquor, and with- 
al they have broken and uncertain Reft ; from all which, as 
: alfo from other intervening Accidents, fuch as being often 
i wet, and expofed to the cold Night Air, they contraft the ill 
| Habit of Body, of which we are now fpeaking. For this 
fait and moift Air, entering the Blood, will render it vifcid ; 
and the Bittern in the Salt which they eat, will heat and ra- 
refy this vifcid Blood, and thereby increafe its Celerity. By 
this means very large Globules will be forced into the Ca- 
pillary Veffels, where they muft remain, till either the 
| Quicknefs of the Circulation removes the Obftrudtion, or 
: the Efforts made by Nature for that Purpofe break the* 
I Veffels. Hence it is, that the Difeafed are troubled with 
Spots, and Itchings in the Skin •, for pxtravafated Blood 
turns firft of an high Red, then livid, then black. It putre-' 
lies likewife, which occafions the Rottennefs of their Gums, 
I ftinking Breath, and loofe Teeth. -Wandering Pains, irre- 
gular Pulfe, and inexpreffible Faintnefs, are Symptoms that * 
ariie from the fame Caufe ; which, as I obferved before, 
j operates feveraily according to the Difference of Conftitu- 
- tions. In the End they are ufually carrried off by aDropfy, 
i attended with Ulcers in their Legs, and very frequently 
- with a voracious Appetite , which agrees exadly with what 
is reported by thofe who made this Voyage, viz. that, up- 
on opening the Bodies of thofe who died on board the Cen- 
turion , they found their Blood dried up, the Veffels full of 
1 Water, and their Bones, when the Flefh was lcrapcd off, 
quite black. 
As to the Remedies which are fitteft for this Difeafe, they 
are eafily difcovered, but then they are not fo eafiiy applied. 
Good Air, frefli Provifions, great Plenty of Greens, and 
Abundance of thin Liquors, together with due Exercife, 
and natural R.eft, quickly complete the Cure* But to what 
Purpofe Ihould a Man talk of thefe at Sea, where none of 
them are to be had, and where the very Mention of them 
muft be exceedingly difagreeable, for that very Reafon ? 
The only thing to be thought of there, is how to prevent 
. Numb. 24. 
the Scurvy , and, in regard to this, much may be done. In 
the firft Place, Cleanlinefs is a matter of great Conftquence^ 
Sir John Narbrough tells us, that he defended his Crew, in a 
great meafure, from this dreadful Difeafe, and that for many 
Months, in thefe Seas, by a very eafy Precaution , for he 
obliged every Man to wafh his Mouth, Face, and Hands, 
before he received his daily Allowance of Bread, and ap- 
pointed a Man to fee it performed, Exercife is another ex- 
cellent Thing for, while People are brifk and adtive, this 
Diftemper cannot lay hold on them. The fame judicious 
Commander tells us, that twelve of his Crew fell lame with 
Cold, their Legs and Thighs turning as black as an Hat. Thefe 
made ufe of Bathing and Stuping, which, inftead of relieve 
ing, increafed the Symptoms * while, at the fame time, thofe 
who were able to ftir, and to do their Bufiliefs, felt no fort 
of Inconvenience from the Climate, but enjoyed as good 
Health, and had better Stomachs than in England. Thirdly, 
Vinegar, and all other Acids, either as Food or Phyfic, are 
great Prefervatives *, to which if we join abftaining as much 
as poffible from fait Meats, and fpirituous Liquors, I believe 
it will not be eafy to add any thing very confiderable upon 
this Subject. But to return to the Bland of Juan Fer- 
nandez. 
After they had been fome time on fhore, and had fed on 
frefli Provifions, Greens, Roots, and whatever elfe the 
Bland afforded, enjoyed the Benefit of wholfome Air, and 
daily Exercife, with the fovereign Relief of good Water in 
great Plenty, they began to recover their former Health and 
Strength, and to take a great deal of Pleafure in their pre- 
fent Habitation ; which I fhall not defcribe, becaufe we have 
fpoken already very fully of it. I Ilia’ l only obferve, thac 
the Account given us by thefe People, and the Advantages 
of this Ifl2nd, fufficiently juftify what I have advanced, as 
to its making a commodious Plantation ; and this is one 
Reafon why I do not chufe to fay any more of it, left it 
might be thought I put fiiy own Sentiments into other 
Mens Mouths. While they remained here, every thing 
was conduced with the utmoft Regularity and Decorum ; 
and the utmoft Pains taken to repair and refit the Ship, as 
well as to refrelli and recover the Men. 
On the eleventh, came in the Trial Sloop, in a moft mi- 
ferable Condition, the Vefiel fcarce able to fwim, and hardly 
Hands enough to work her , having buried more than half 
her Crew fince fhe left England. They lent her on board, 
as foon as fhe dropp’d Anchor, a convenient Supply of Wa- 
ter and frefli Provifions, which were very acceptable. The 
Commodore was in great Pain for the reft of his Squa- 
dron, whom he daily expeded at this Rendefvous, accord- 
ing to their Inftrudions, but faw nothing of them for, the 
Space of a Fortnight. On the twenty-feventh they had 
Sight of the Gloucejler on which the Commodore ordered 
the Firft Lieutenant on board, in the Cutter, with a Sup- 
ply of Eifti and Water * a very feafonable Relief to People 
who had been for fome time at fo fhort an Allowance, as a 
Pint of Water a Day to each Man ; and reduced to fo low a 
Condition, that the Captain found it abfolutely neceffary to 
detain the Lieutenant, and his Boat’s Crew, in order to affift 
him in working the Ship. 
1 r . Never certainly was a Ship’s Company more diftrefied 
than the GloucefteF s at this Time ; for upon fending, on the 
twenty-eighth, the Triads, Boat, with another Lieutenant, 
and a filial! Crew, Captain Mitchell thought proper to de- 
tain them, in order to work his Ship, which was about four 
Leagues from the North End of the Bland, and continued 
driving in this manner for a whole WeeL They then at- 
tempted to tow her into the Harbour, but to no manner of 
Purpofe , for on the tenth of July fhe drove, in fpite of all 
that could be done, quite out of Sight t On the fixteenth 
flie was again within Sight of the Bland, fired two Guns, 
and made a Signal of Diftrefs, having then but one Pun- 
cheon of Water left ; the Commodore font a Boat on. board, 
with two 'Hogfheads of Wine, nine Puncheons of Water, 
and other Refrelhments. On the nineteenth fhe was blown 
off again, and driven to the leffer Bland of Juan Fernandez , 
in the Latitude of 35 0 55' South, about 20 Leagues South 
South-weft of the great Ifland. The Spaniards, when they 
fpeak of them both, call them the Blands of Juan Fernan- 
dez-, but, to diftinguifh them, they call the larger Tierra , 
and the leffer de Fuera. The G laic eft tr attempted to fend 
4 S her 
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