11 
we did not continue in suspense; the captain and officers acted 
with a calm intrepidity, and in an hour the dames were extin- 
guished. 
On our second approach to the equator, we met with calms 
and contrary currents, which drove us quite out of our reckoning; 
fresh provisions and water became scarce, and the men were 
attacked by the scurvy; a distemper which was then very inci- 
dental to mariners in long voyages: it is various in its symptoms 
and progress; but is generally attended with heaviness, restless- 
ness, swelled limbs, livid spots, and ulcerated gums: the last stage 
seems to be a total putrefaction; which soon carries off the un- 
happy sufferer. The scurvy baffles all the art of medicine; but 
if the patient is taken on shore, to breathe a pure air, and enjoy 
the refreshment of fruit and vegetables, he generally recovers. 
Before we experienced this liapp}' change, many of the seamen, 
and more of the recruits for the army in India, fell a sacrifice to 
the malady; and we were often called upon to attend the awful 
ceremony of committing their remains to the deep. There is 
something peculiarly solemn in a funeral of this kind, where 
the body is consigned to the fathomless abyss: but Faith 
anticipates that glorious morn, when the ransomed of the 
Redeemer shall hear his voice, and the sea shall give up her 
dead! 
Except at the funeral ceremony, which was now so frequently 
performed, I never had an opportunity of seeing a ship’s company 
assembled at public worship; it is a fine spectacle; every feeling 
mind must rejoice to behold the deck of a large vessel covered 
