Report on the climate and principle diseases of the African station; compiled from the documents in the office of the Director-General of the Medical Department, and from other sources: in compliance with the directions of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty / Under the immediate direction of Sir William Burnett. By Alexander Bryson.

Alexander Bryson

Date:: 1847

Credit: Report on the climate and principle diseases of the African station; compiled from the documents in the office of the Director-General of the Medical Department, and from other sources: in compliance with the directions of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty / Under the immediate direction of Sir William Burnett. By Alexander Bryson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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are sold, or given in barter for the merest trifle. This is a temptation that few seamen can withstand, particularly after long confinement on board ship; nor do they seem to think it necessary to do so, for the moment they find them- selves on shore, elated by the prospect of a few hours’ exemp- tion from the restraint of discipline, they abandon themselves to the utmost intemperance in the use of spirits, wander abroad exposed to the scorching rays of the sun, in a state of excitement bordering on frenzy, and, as night approaches, instead of returning on board as they ought to do, perhaps seek out the wretched haunts of profligacy, where at best they must spend the night upon the cold damp floor of a negro hut, or else throw themselves down to sleep on the naked ground in the bush, or in some obscure corner of the town, where they lie unheeded by the passers by, until they awake cold and stiff in the morning. Such is the usual course and termination of a day’s liberty with seamen at Sierra Leone; and, with few exceptions, it paves the way for a severe attack of fever. It appears, however, that the ofiicers and men who navigate prize vessels to Sierra Leone suffer most severely. They generally arrive worn out by excessive labour, broken rest, and exposure both by night and day upon the deck of a small vessel, probably crowded with slaves in a loathsome state of misery and disease. After the human cargo has been delivered over to the authorities on shore, and the vessel con- demned to be broken up or sold, they also land, and take up their quarters in a building in the town appropriated for the purpose, and denominated “the barn;” here it generally happens that the officer, quartered, perhaps, in a different part of the town, loses all control over his men, who being left to themselves, at once plunge into every kind of excess with all the characteristic carelessness of British seamen. Many, while they still inhabit the barn, are seized with fever, and are taken to the military hospital; others escape for a time, and apparently enjoy good health until they embark either

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