22 
Relation 
[1669 
& often causes suffering of great pains; when the disease is 
most inveterate, the sick die as soon as they perceive the 
air of the land. 
The Surgeons can prevent it by good remedies, for 
some time at least, so that the disease do’s not increase 
much. It communicates itself by drink ; & ’tis dangerous 
to drink after & in the same vessel as those who have this 
sickness. Those who undertake long voyages at Sea, 
where this sickness is much to be fear’d, can take precau¬ 
tion against it by making provision of good Orvietan & 
Theriac , for use, as also of Lemon juice, to wash the 
mouth with, because of the excrescence of the flesh of 
which I have spoken : that cleanses the mouth well & 
dissipates any dead flesh which there may be. ’Tis good 
often to rince the mouth well, that one may not have this 
sickness, & particularly with Eau-de- Vie . There dy’d 
two more of the men from this sickness before we got near 
Mascarenne. 
The 28th August following, whilst chanting the Office 
of the Dead for two other men dead of this sickness, to 
whom the air of the land had hasten’d death, we dis¬ 
cover’d the Island of Bourbon or Mascarene , from which 
we were more than 20 leagues ; this Land being very high 
tis seen from afar. ’Twas at sunset; which oblig’d us to 
shorten sail for fear of running a-shoar by night. 
In the passage which we had made from France to Mas¬ 
carene, we had seen a number of Whales and Grampuses 
& taken some Porpoises, 1 Sharks or Tuberons, Bonitos, 
Dorados, & other fish. We had seen also under the Torrid 
Zone, between the Tropicks of Cancer & Capricorn, quan- 
1 The Porpoise is the Sea Hog. The Shark is the Sea Dog, ’tis a very 
dangerous fish, which devours & mangles with his teeth all which he 
catches. There are some of them which have nine rows of teeth. That is 
wherefore ’tis so very dangerous to bathe in the open sea, where they are often 
found. It bears its young ones all form’d as a terrestrial beast do’s ; there are 
small fish as large as Mackerel, which never leave these Sharks, & always go 
