Folios 23-24: case no. 24, John Stanton, aged 20, Ordinary Seaman; taken ill at Valparaiso;...

ADM 101/100/4A/2

1843-1844

Folios 23-24: case no. 24, John Stanton, aged 20, Ordinary Seaman; taken ill at Valparaiso; sick or hurt, dysentery; put on sick list 3 February 1844, sent 16 February 1844 to Sick Quarters at Valparaiso, died 1 March 1844. The Surgeon's noted that on inspection of the body, the lining membrane of the colon was found to be studded with innumerable oval patches of ulceration, destroyed both mucous and muscular coats of the intestine [included in the entry is a hand coloured drawing of the part effected].

Folios 24-25: case no. 25, James Tipping, aged 19, Boy; taken ill at Valparaiso; sick or hurt, dysentery, had troubled for some days with bowels complaint in consequence of he had eating fruit to excess on shore, but as he was also labouring under gonorrhoea, he felt ashamed to applied for advise; put on sick list 13 February 1844, sent 16 February 1844 to Sick Quarters at Valparaiso, died 18 February 1844.

Folios 25-26: case no. 26, Walter Thomas, aged 24, Carpenter's Crew; taken ill at Valparaiso; sick or hurt, dysentery; put on sick list 19 February 1844, sent 15 March 1844 to Sick Quarters at Valparaiso, invalided 1 April 1844, he returned to England in HMS Vindictive.

Folios 26-27: case no. 27, John Dean, aged 23, Carpenter's Crew; taken ill at Valparaiso; sick or hurt, typhus fever; put on sick list 5 February 1844, sent 16 February 1844 to Sick Quarters at Valparaiso, returned 27 May 1844 to the Fisgard cured.

Folio 27: case no. 28, James Riley, aged 29, Ordinary Seaman; taken ill at Valparaiso; sick or hurt, rheumatism; put on sick list 30 March 1844, sent 16 February 1844 to Sick Quarters at Valparaiso, invalided 1 April 1844 and sent to HMS Vindictive for passage to England.

Folios 27-28: case no. 29, George Hadge, aged 20, Ordinary Seaman; taken ill at Calloa; sick or hurt, paralysis; put on sick list 4 May 1844, sent 24 May 1844 to Sick Quarters at Valparaiso.

Folio 28: Nosological return of cases mentioned in the journal.

Folio 29: No serious accident has occurred on board HMS Fisgard during the period of this account - consequently no pension certificate has been granted. Signed: Thomas Russell Dunn, M. D., Surgeon. Dated 30 June 1844, Calloa.

Folio 30: A chart of the Strait of Magellan showing the track of HMS Fisgard, 1843 by Thomas Inskip, Naval Instructor.

Folios 30-34: Surgeon's general remarks. The Fisgard was commissioned at Plymouth on 16 May 1843, she was completely equipped, manned and ready for sea on 16 July. The ship arrived at Rio de Janeiro on the 5 September, and remained there till 20 September, on which the Fisgard left Brazil for the Pacific, the ship reached the entrance of the Straits of Magellan on 14 October and afterwards the ship was brought to an anchor off 'Cape Possession'. On the 15 October at 7 pm. the ship ran aground at 'Triton Bank', but however she managed to glide off into deep water. On the following morning the ship beat through the 'Second Narrows', towards the evening approched the narrow channel between Elizabeth Island and Santa Martha, owning to the wind and tide it was necessary for the ship to anchored to leeward of Elizabeth Island. On 17 October at 2 pm the ship passed 'Port Famine' a settlement of the early Spanish adventurers and lately established as the Head Quarters of a Colony by the Chilian Government, the Surgeon's stated that he was anxious to explore this harbour, but it was considered to take advantage of a fair wind to rush on for 'Port Gallant', however the wind shifted suddenly causing the ship to obliged to bore up for 'Woody Bay' and anchored for the night in a very exposed and danderous berth near the mouth of a small river. the morning of 18 October the ship reached safe anchoraged in Fortescue Bay, Port Gallant 14 miles from Woody Bay, between 19 and 22 October several of the wooding, fishing, shooting and scientific parties were landed on Wigwam Island to explored the Bay. On the 23 October all hands on deck and in the late hour of the night after the ship met with strong south West gale the Fisgard anchored in 'Elizabeth Bay' and the following day nearly 40 tacks were made in beating to windward to reach Borja's Bay, and again no 26 October no less than 46 tacks were made to reach 'SwallowBay', the ship remained in this place till on the afternoon of 29 October when the ship got under weigh and on the following evening entered the Pacific. The Fisgard arrived at Valparaiso on the 9 November. The Surgeon's mentioned that in the absence of the Commander in Chief, Captain Duntze assumed the duties of Senior Officer in Chilli, till 3 April 1844, on which day the ship sailed for Peru, and entered the Bay of Calloa on 13 April through the 'Bocaron Passage'. On the 7 May left Calloa and returned to Valparaiso on 25 May. The Fisgard was again despatched on 12 June to Peru by Admiral Thomas. The ship arrived at Calloa on 23 June and remained there to protected British interests & commerce. Also The Surgeon's described the difficulties and dangers in adopting Strait of Magellan for a short and direct course to the Pacific Ocean instead of proceeding round Cape Horn. The Surgeon's remarks on the cases of delerium tremens, in which the first case occurred the day after the ship sailing from Plymouth in a carpenter's Mate [case no. 6, John Baxter], the second was a Midshipman's Steward [case no. 21, Richard Griffiths], and the third occurred in a Sergeant of Marine [case no. 22, Henry Williamson]. He went on stated that the climate of the Pacific predisposes very much to the production of delerium tremens & other nervous of affections, but however the disease never heard of among the Natives, whether of Spanish, Aboriginal or the mixed races. He concluded that the effects of climate are somewhat overrated, and he attributed the occurrence of this disease in Chili among the British and Citizens of the United States on an inclination to drinking. He passing notes on bowel complaints which prevailed on shore and about the men on board which he observed that the most obnoxious to the disease were the marine one of these occurred on case no. 20 [William Tree]. Included in the general remarks is an abstract of meteorological journal between July 1843 & June 1844.

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