Folio 17A: Ronald Macdonald Esquire, [aged 36], Lieutenant of the 80th Regiment....

ADM 101/21/2/3

1836-1837

Folio 17A: Ronald Macdonald Esquire, [aged 36], Lieutenant of the 80th Regiment. Put on sick list, 7 November 1836. Discharged, [no date recorded]. Discharged 'on the 3rd Instant', he had a relapse and his face and head were swollen to 'an enormous size', accompanied with pyrexial symptoms and 'great disturbance of the [sensolium]'. An abscess developed and he completely lost the vision in his left eye.

Folios 17A-18: Patrick Cronin, aged 22, Convict; disease or hurt, elephantiasis. Put on sick list, 30 November 1836. Placed as an outpatient of the Sydney Colonial Hospital, [5 January 1837]. He had been a stable boy with Mr Freeman, a magistrate at Castle Court, near Mallow, and had been healthy before being attacked with elephantiasis 3 years previously. His left leg and foot swelled gradually for the first year, then increased in size rapidly, the skin becoming thick, rough and wrinkly. The leg was more than double the size of the other one but had been even bigger when he embarked. For six weeks he was treated with adhesive plaster spread on calico bandages and replaced every 3 days but the surgeon was obliged to stop because of the amount of calico and plaster being used. The surgeon had seen the treatment used on a woman when he was a pupil of Sir Everard Home at St George's Hospital in 1815. The treatment had been successful on her leg but the following autumn metastasis had taken place and she had visceral disease. The following spring she died and her abdominal viscera was found to thickened and enlarged.

Folio 19: A nosological synopsis of the sick book kept during the period of this journal, in conformity with the 30th article of the Surgeon's Instructions, nosologically arranged.

Folio 20: Abstract of the preceding journal, being a summary of all the cases contained therein, nosologically arranged.

Folios 21-23: Surgeon's general remarks. The surgeon joined the Earl Grey on 15 July 1836 at Deptford. On the 25th the guard joined; Lieutenant Macdonald of the 80th Regiment, Lieutenant Hill of the 41st Regiment, Assistant Surgeon Graydon of the 50th Regiment, Assistant Surgeon Allman and Quarter Master Potter of the 4th Regiment; one Sergeant and 29 rank and file; also Mrs Macdonald, Mrs Allman and Mrs Potter and 5 women and children, fifty in all. With 45 sailors. They sailed from Deptford on the 27th and reached Kingstown [Dun Laoghaire] on the 14th of August. There were several cases of catarrh on the way. On 16 August, 91 convicts were received from the Essex hulk and the next day they sailed for Cork, arriving on 21 August. On the 23 August, 192 convicts and 5 free boys, the sons of convicts in the colony, were received. In total there were 384 people on board. They sailed from Cove of Cork on 27 August 1836. Between Cork and the latitude of Madeira there were a few slight cases of ephemeral pyrexia arising from the moist and vitiated atmosphere of their crowded dormitory. After passing the Cape Verde Islands the heat became oppressive and on entering the rainy regions 13 cases of scurvy became manifest. Scurvy and scorbutic dysentery seem to arise partly from the impurity of the water' but 'also from foul stagnant air between decks'. The water was taken on at Deptford with very little care and sometimes 'at improper times of the tide, though Government regulations are imperative on this head'. The high temperature ranges and moist atmosphere, in a crowded prison room, decreases the changes effected on the blood in respiration and increases the secreting and excreting functions of the liver and skin and a decrease of urine. 'Molecules of animal matter in a state of decay' float in the vitiated, moist, heated atmosphere. The surgeon expresses the opinion that these causes, with the depression and anxiety of incarceration and transportation and combined with the sea diet, are sufficient to account for the appearance of scurvy so early in the voyage. 'On reaching high southern latitudes with deficiency of clothing the cause is reversed'. In severe cases of scurvy, extreme lethargy and stupor cause the patient to make no effort to expel urine from the bladder and the retention means some urine is reabsorbed and transpired through the pores. The approach of land or the end of the voyage can have a dramatic effect on their spirits, which can equally be reversed by any unexpected setback or delay. On the evening of 1 October they crossed the equator with a fine breeze from south southeast and passed rapidly through the south east trades, reaching the Tropic of Capricorn in 11 days from the line. The cooler weather made 30 or so sufferers from obscure symptoms of scurvy become more seriously affected with that disease and scorbutic dysentery. On 19 October the surgeon recommended the master to call at the Cape for refreshment, experience having taught him that 'lime juice and nitrate of potash are mere prophylactics' and that fresh meat and vegetables were the only sure means of ensuring health for the rest of the voyage. Many of the sick loathed the diet on board and preferred a roasted potato with butter and a glass of wine to all other food or delicacies. Patrick Bryan died on 11 October of anasarca, which supervened on scorbutic affection and on 14 October, Michael Coyle died of scorbutic dysentery. The surgeon expresses the opinion that Irish convicts do not stand the voyage as well as English convicts because they are fed very poorly and have no clothing but what is issued to them by the Government. He lists the rations issued daily at the Surprize hulk in Cork and on the Essex at Kingstown; 8 ounces of oatmeal each to be made into gruel for breakfast, with half an ounce of sugar, served at 8:30am; 4 ounces of meat, including bone, and 4 ounces of inferior cabbage, including stalks, to be made into broth, with a small amount of oatmeal to thicken it, the broth is served at 2pm and each man gets a quart with a pound of biscuit. No more food is served after this. On 26 October there were 35 convicts laid up with scorbutic affections, their symptoms are described. At 5pm on 4 November the Earl Grey anchored in Simon's Bay, where they remained 8 days. They received fresh beef, mutton and vegetables and took on board 5 live bullocks and 60 sheep. In less than a fortnight, 30 who had been bed ridden were convalescent and continued to improve in spite of the weather. Dr Allman of the 4th or King's Own Regiment, related the following circumstances 'peculiar to the lower class of Irish', that when the potato crop failed typhus fever became prevalent and 'potatoes and salt or either milk or herrings being as it were their natural food' they would almost rather starve than eat an alternative, and this, 'with their ragged, scanty, filthy clothing and dirty hovels, predispose them to the prevailing epidemic'. Many of the convicts disliked the soup, 'though excellent', others 'cannot even bear the sight of cocoa' and were given oatmeal instead. On 11 December, Charles McCarthy died of phthisis pulmonalis, his end hastened by the cold, moist weather. On 20 December, Cape Otway was sighted and soon after the north end of King's Island. The following day they passed through Bass Straits with a fine breeze from the westwards. On 31 December they reached Sydney after a voyage of 18 weeks from Cove of Cork. The weather was fine and by the time they reached Sydney there was not an individual who could not walk to the convict barracks to be inspected. The number landed was 288. Signed William Evans, Surgeon Superintendent.

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