“We had three sorts of sick men: those that could not move, nor turn themselves in their beds, who must be tended like infants; others were, as it were, crippled with aches; and others, that were something better. Most had sore mouths. You may now ask me, how these infirm men could work? I will tell you. Our surgeon, who was a diligent and sweet-conditioned man as ever I saw, would be up betimes in the morning, and whilst he picked their teeth, and cut away the pieces of flesh from their gums, they would bathe their thighs, knees, and legs. The manner of it was thus: there was no tree, bud, or herb, but we made trial of it; and this being first boiled in a kettle, and then put in a small tub and basins, they put it under them, and covered them with cloths upon it. This so mollified the grieved parts, that though, when they rose out of their beds, they would be so crippled that they could scarce stand, yet, after this was done half an hour, they would be able to go (and go they must) to wade through the snow to the ship, and about other business. By night they would be as bad again, and then they must be bathed, anointed, and their mouths dressed again, before they went to bed: and in this diet, and in this manner, we went through our miseries.
I was always afraid that we should be weakest in the spring, and therefore I reserved a tun of Alicant wine unto this time. Of this, by putting seven parts of water to one of wine, we made some weak beverage; which, by reason that the wine had been froze, and lost its virtue, was little better than water. The sicker sort had a pint of Alicant a day, by itself; and of such poor aqua vita, too, as we had, they had a dram allowed them next their hearts every morning. And thus we made the best use of what we had, according to the seasons.”
- Captain Thomas James, The Strange and Dangerous Voyage of Captain Thomas James, Ed. by W.A. Kenyon, 1975.
James’s account is from his 1631 voyage in search of the Northwest Passage, in which he and his crew overwintered on Charlton Island in James Bay, in what is now Nunavut, Canada.
11 months ago
![“The surroundings were carefully examined for graves, as during the occupancy, covering at least two years, of habitations of such size it was likely some one must have died. No traces of any human remains could be found, nor, indeed, of the dogs; but, in the case of the latter, their uncared for remains would have been devoured and their bones removed by foxes or wolves. It is pertinent to remark that musk-ox or other expected bones were rarely found in Grinnell Land.
Nearly an hour was spent in the examination of these remains, after which we started westward. […] During this day’s march I found a large reindeer’s antler, and Corporal Salor saw a bumble-bee and a “devil’s darning-needle.” Butterflies were very numerous, as many as fifty being seen during the day.”
- Observations made in the Lake Hazen region of Ellesmere Island by Adolphus Washington Greely, as recorded in Three Years of Arctic Service: An Account of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881-84.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfus43OxAX1qzbdf3o1_1280.jpg)
