Page 11 - Bulletin 22 2019

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hull of the ship and hauled from one side of the ship to the other, having their flesh ripped

open by the sharp barnacles on the hull.) A seaman found guilty of murder or mutiny would
be hanged from the yard arm.

The main rations on a ship were salted beef or pork, cheese, fish, ale and some form of

biscuits. The quality of the food would deteriorate because of storage problems, lack of
ventilation and poor drainage. It was also affected by the presence of rats and other vermin on

board; the biscuits would become mouldy and full of weevils or other pests. This all led to a

great deal of sickness at sea. Seamen were often cold and wet. Rats carried diseases. Poor diet
caused malnutrition and most of a ship’s crew would end up with scurvy (caused by a lack of

vitamin C in the diet.) This was the greatest cause of death at sea – yet the simplest ailment to

cure.

When a ship arrived in a port after many months at sea, the crew had differing ideas as to
how they would spend their free time before their next departure. Some would remain on

board through sheer weakness and lack of motivation, whilst others headed off to the nearest
drinking hole to savour the local grog. Others, such as the ship’s cook would await his chance

to go ashore unnoticed, as he would be seeking out the local candle-makers, or a passing

merchant, so he could sell his hidden stock of bagged grease and fat accumulated from the
months of cooking. (This is the origin of the term ‘slush fund’ – not the smoke-filled board

rooms of Corporate America, as one would imagine.)

Many, however, desperately yearned for the company of the opposite sex and the excitement
of other carnal vices. A few days after the ship had left port, many of the crew would wake

up with strange rashes on different parts of their bodies, only to find that they had fallen

victim to the second biggest cause of death in the age of sail – syphilis. As there was no
known cure many would go on to suffer the long term debilitating effects of the disease

which eventually spreads to the brain. Many were treated with a mercury medication, which

put them out of their misery at an earlier stage, through mercury poisoning.