Thinking, From My Education, That I Must Have Some Knowledge Of
Medicine, The Kanakas Had Insisted Upon My Examining Him Carefully;
And It Was Not A Sight To Be Forgotten.
One of our crew, an old
man-of-war's man, of twenty years' standing, who had seen sin
and suffering in every shape, and whom I afterwards took to
see Hope, said it was dreadfully worse than anything he had
ever seen, or even dreamed of.
He was horror-struck, as his
countenance showed; yet he had been among the worst cases in
our naval hospitals. I could not get the thought of the poor
fellow out of my head all night; his horrible suffering, and his
apparently inevitable, horrible end.
The next day I told the captain of Hope's state, and asked him
if he would be so kind as to go and see him.
"What? a d - - d Kanaka?"
"Yes, sir," said I; "but he has worked four years for our vessels,
and has been in the employ of our owners, both on shore and aboard."
"Oh! he be d - - d!" said the captain, and walked off.
This same man died afterwards of a fever on the deadly coast of
Sumatra; and God grant he had better care taken of him in his
sufferings, than he ever gave to any one else! Finding nothing
was to be got from the captain, I consulted an old shipmate, who
had much experience in these matters, and got from him a recipe,
which he always kept by him. With this I went to the mate, and told
him the case. Mr. Brown had been entrusted with the general care of
the medicine-chest, and although a driving fellow, and a taught hand
in a watch, he had good feelings, and was always inclined to be kind
to the sick. He said that Hope was not strictly one of the crew,
but as he was in our employ when taken sick, he should have the
medicines; and he got them and gave them to me, with leave to go
ashore at night. Nothing could exceed the delight of the Kanakas,
when I came bringing the medicines. All their terms of affection
and gratitude were spent upon me, and in a sense wasted, (for I
could not understand half of them,) yet they made all known by
their manner. Poor Hope was so much revived at the bare thought
of anything's being done for him, that he was already stronger
and better. I knew he must die as he was, and he could but die
under the medicines, and any chance was worth running. An oven,
exposed to every wind and change of weather, is no place to take
calomel; but nothing else would do, and strong remedies must be
used, or he was gone. The applications, internal and external,
were powerful, and I gave him strict directions to keep warm
and sheltered, telling him it was his only chance for life.
Twice, after this, I visited him, having only time to run up,
while waiting in the boat.
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