1773.
March.
to run to the eastward, between 61° and 58° of south latitude, during which time we had a great share of easterly winds, which commonly brought fogs, and rains with them, and repeatedly exposed us to the most imminent danger of being wrecked against huge islands of ice. The shapes of these large frozen masses, were frequently singularly ruinous, and so far picturesque enough; among them we passed one of a great size, with a hollow in the middle, resembling a grotto or cavern, which was pierced through, and admitted the light from the other side. Some had the appearance of a spire or steeple; and many others gave full scope to our imagination, which compared them to several known objects, by that means attempting to overcome the tediousness of our cruize, which the sight of birds, porpesses, seals, and whales, now too familiar to our eyes, could not prevent from falling heavily upon us. Notwithstanding our excellent preservatives, especially the sour-krout, several of our people had now strong symptoms of sea-scurvy, such as bad gums, difficult breathing, livid blotches, eruptions, contracted limbs, and greenish greasy filaments in the urine. Wort was therefore prescribed to them, and those who were the most affected drank five pints of it per day; the contracted limbs were bathed in it, and the warm grains applied to them. By this means we succeeded to mitigate, and in some individuals entirely to remove the symptoms of this horrid disease. The ri-gours
