, 1897-11-12
SHIPBOARD FEVER.

1 was only IA years of age. and Il
puny boy ut that, when my Uncle John.
who was my guardian, sent ne to sea
aboard of the brig May Queen of Lon
lon. He wasn't concerned about my
health, as l have every reason to he
lieve, and l am also quite sure that he
wouldn't have shed II tear had he heard
l was lost ut sea. l made the voyage
from London to Valparaiso and to cs-
cape further i'll usage deserted the brig
and hid away for W weeks. l then
found \ good natured captain to take
me to Rio, from which port | shipped
as cabin boy on an English bark named
the Duchess. She had Il cargo of green
coffee for Australia and New Zealand,
carried IA crew of ii men, and few sea
captains had II kinder heart than her
skipper, whose name was Martin. The
bark left Rio with II fair wind aid
everybody i'll perfect health, and her
run to the east until she had sighted In
accessible island and left it 100 miles
astern was something to boast of. Then
came a dead fat calm, which lasted for
II days, with such hot weather that
everybody suffered day and night. On
the fifth day of the calm I'VE men We're
suddenly stricken with u strange all
ment. They first lost their sight, then
taste and smell departed, then fever
seized them and they lost their reason.
They were reported sick at s o'clock III
the morning. By 2 p. III both Were
dead. At 6 o'clock u third man was
taken down and lived only two hours.
No one was attacked Oh the sixth day,
but OH the seventh the captain, second
mate and a olnmo sailor all came
down at once. The first complaint was
dryness of the tongue. That was fol-
lowed in half an hour by loss of sight
and other senses, and before noon all
were dead. The bodies were at once
shrouded and committed to the deep,
and the chief mate ordered the matches
removed to ventilatc the cargo, and dis
i%nfectants were used in the most thor.
ough manne
On the night of the seventh day a
sailor who had lain down Oh the deck
in perfect health and soundly slumbered
for three hours awoke with Il parched
al q nv Bo"S ~ IaNlNA
his thirst. He drank until he must have
imbibed n gallon, and as he turned from
the water cask his vision left him in q
fash. He did not wait to die as the 9TH
ers had done. but CROPPED his way to the
ships side and dropped from the rail
into the sea. He was the sixth who had
died, and the living were now panic
stricken. Some Went nloft, some went
below-all avoided each other. The only
exceptions We're the mate and myself.
He talked with me very fully about tho
situation, seeming glad to have me near
him, aud after the last death he wrote Il
letter to his wife i'll England and
charged me to see that it reached her in
case le should die aud l BIO spared.
We had now lost nearly half our
crew, and the ship lay heavy on tho
CLASSY sea without sign that the calm
was ever to lie broken. On the morning
of the eighth day there was Il better
feeling, however. No nj had been at
tackled during the night, and we began
to hope that the epidemic had exhaust
ed itself. The bark had, of course, been
snugged down long before, but OH the
forenoon of this day, the sun not being
quite so fierce, the matches were secured,
things aloft more closely attended to,
and the craft made ready for what
might happen to u short handed crew.
At noon every man ate u hearty dinner.
An hour later four mel were taken
down almost ut the same moment, and
the symptoms were more violent than
IN ar- Nl,. yr,,,ltnR 20 TInv
were seized with the terrible thirst
they drank quarts Of water-they went
mad and died. There vas no burial of
the bodies; they were simply thrown
overheard as soon as life had departed.
When this had been done, the mate
called the living around him and said
there was nc longer any hope that u
man would DO spared. The captains
gig could be got at handily, and i'll case
we wanted to take it and pull away
from the ship he would help to get her
in the water. The two sailors were
eager to be off, but my mind was quick
ly made up to remain with Mr.. Mer-
win. He did not express himself either
way on the subject, but We provisioned
the boat, got her down, and the men
scrambled into her and pulled away Us
if the ship had been on fire or was ex-
pected to go down. They went off to
the east, and after rowing u couple of
miles gave DER and raised an awning
for shelter.
When tho mate and I were left alone,
he wrote up his logbook and also pre-
pared two statements, which he sealed
up in bottles and cast overheard. We
then burned tar and sulphur to disin-
feet the cabin and %forecastle, and he
drank q pint of rum with which he had
mixed q large dose of common black
pepper. ] tried to swallow some, but it
was too fiery.
That night when / went to sleep the
bark was heaving about on the ground
swell in the same monotonous way Il
Merwin sat at the table i'll the cabin
reading q book. Islept the night through
without q break, and it vas sunrise
when I turned out. l looked into the
mates statenoom, but saw that he had
not been to bed. I ran OH deck. but he
was nowhere to be seen. l called hii.
aud began . search and it was IL fun
hour before I gave up and realised that
he was not in the ship. What had hap
pened during the night I could only sur
mise. He was either seized with the
dread epidemic and wandered about and
fell overheard or the strain on his mind
was 40 great that he deliberately com-
United suicide. He had not Weakened me
r. loft "a ,poseapc NJ any aort behind,