Four Men Were Compelled To Enter The Hospital,
Leaving Only Six In A Condition To Carry Out The Orders Of The Officer On
The Bridge, And These Unfortunates Themselves Dropped From Sheer
Exhaustion And Fatigue.
Between decks, the sick men lay about, and the
air was filled with their groans.
A picture more harrowing never
presented itself to the imagination. The general consternation added to
the horror of it. We had nearly reached the point of being unable to
control the movements of the ship amidst the fury of the waves; parts of
the rigging were broken with every manoeuvre; and despite all our efforts
we could scarcely shift our sails. For a long time our commandant had had
no rest. It was absolutely necessary to get out of these stormy seas at
the extremity of the southern continent, and hasten on our course for
Port Jackson. 'At this time,' says the commandant in his journal, and the
fact was only too true, 'I had not more than four men in a fit condition
to remain on duty, including the officer in charge.' The ravages of the
scurvy can be estimated from these words. Not a soul among us was exempt
from the disease; even the animals we had on board were afflicted by it;
some, including two rabbits and a monkey, had died from it."
Slowly, painfully, as though the ship herself were diseased, like the
miserable company on board, the coast was traversed, until at last, on
June 20, Le Geographe stood off Port Jackson heads.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 193 of 299
Words from 53481 to 53740
of 83218
