According to an extract of a letter from Basseterre, of Aug. 3, 1792, the ship Britannia, captain Woodyear, with thirty persons, including two women and a child on board, struck on the bar near shore, and soon broke to pieces, leaving the captain with the female passengers and four men on the wreck; all the rest being washed off, except a few who escaped by swimming.

A boat repeatedly attempted to get off to their assistance, but in vain. The captain having exerted every nerve to save the remaining sufferers, particularly the women and child, was at length so completely exhausted as to be utterly unable to prevent their falling a prey to the devouring waves. He, together with his remaining companions, soon underwent the same unhappy fate!

The gallant captain might have swam on shore with his brother, but observed, that his quitting the ship would dispirit his people, and that he could not think of leaving them, particularly the poor women and child, in so perilous a situation. Thus did he nobly sacrifice his own life in a fruitless effort to preserve theirs!

The lamentations of the people on shore most forcibly expressed their sentiments on this truly distressing event. To increase the horrors of the scene, the brothers and relations of the unfortunate captain were among the spectators; while Mrs. Moore, one of the passengers, was also seen with her child in her lap, and clinging to her other son and her brother, wringing her hands in the wild agony of despair, while her disconsolate friends on land were unable to afford them the smallest assistance! Next morning the beach was covered with dead bodies that had been cast on shore in the night!

Captain M‘Kay, in a late pamphlet addressed to his father, gives some interesting particulars respecting the shipwreck of the Juno, of which he was the second officer. The ship, he remarks, was crazy, and greatly out of repair, before she set out from Rangoon, bound to Madras. This circumstance appears to have been the source of their subsequent misfortunes. For the vessel, being unequal to sustain the violence of the storm which overtook them on their voyage, became leaky, and was cast away on the coast; when the principal part of the crew miserably perished. Out of seventy-two persons on board, Captain M‘Kay, with thirteen companions, only survived. But, strange to relate (for the fact, were it not so well attested, would appear almost incredible), this unhappy remnant of the crew, being left on the wreck, subsisted not less than twenty-three days without food!

In describing their unparalleled sufferings during this forlorn situation, Captain M‘Kay observes, that the sense of hunger was very tormenting till the fifth day, when it gave way to the still more distressing sensation of extreme thirst. These painful sensations, however, were greatly mitigated whenever rain fell copiously, and wet them through their clothes. But, finding the relief only temporary, he had recourse to such other expedients as were at hand.—Sea-water drank liberally, though it operated as a severe purgative, yet afforded considerable refreshment. He next chewed pieces of lead, procured from fragments of the wreck, which, by producing a fresh flow of saliva, alleviated the intense thirst. To silence the cravings arising from that aching void produced by long fasting, and which nothing but nutritious food can fully satisfy, he tried the experiment of forcibly compressing the region of the stomach with both hands, which always afforded immediate relief. Hardened and benumbed with their sufferings, his unhappy comrades seemed to feel very little concern or sympathy one for another.

The idea every now and then of hearing a gun, or seeing a sail, when found only to be an illusion, never failed to embitter their distress. When they gave up life as utterly lost, they expressed less anguish; a state of cruel suspense being more painful than absolute despair.

The preceding melancholy cases of shipwreck are selected from several others, if possible, still more deplorable; over which, however, to spare the sympathetic feelings of the humane Reader, I shall draw the friendly veil. These already related are sufficient to suggest a variety of reflections; and it seemed necessary to give them in detail, as they may afford some useful inferences for the benefit of future navigators.

It appears then, in conformity to what has been already observed, that accidents from shipwreck happen most frequently near shore; and that communication between the distressed vessel and the coast being cut off, prevents that timely aid which might otherwise be administered.

2. That the crazy state of a ship, previous to the voyage, must inevitably increase the danger, and hasten on the fatal catastrophe.

3. That sailors expert in the art of swimming frequently escape, while their helpless companions miserably perish.

4. That life may sometimes be supported without food the space of twenty-three days; a much longer period than is commonly supposed, and which can only be explained on the principle of absorption. Hence the refreshment experienced by Captain M‘Kay and his companions from their bodies being wet with rain. Hence also the relief which Captain Bligh and his men, in their late surprizing voyage, obtained, not only from exposure to rain, but also from immersing their clothes in the sea.

The cause of this singular effect seems to be this: The innumerable lymphatic ducts, opening every where over the whole surface of the skin, exert their absorbent power in proportion to the demand. Here, the sailors’ bodies being exhausted by long fasting, and nature reduced to her dernier resource, the lymphatic system imbibed with avidity the water, but rejected the salt; otherwise the extreme thirst, instead of being mitigated, would have been greatly increased.

5. It further appears, from Captain M‘Kay’s observation, that the painful sensation of extreme hunger may be greatly alleviated by compressing the region of the stomach.

6. That this distressing symptom goes off about the fifth day, and gives way to intense thirst, which, in its turn, may also be mitigated by chewing lead, as practised by sailors, in hot climates, who assuage their thirst by rolling in their mouths a leaden bullet. The poisonous quality of the metal, however, renders this a doubtful expedient. To allay thirst, and support the system, Dr. Franklin, with more propriety, had recourse to bathing in sea-water several hours every day, and observed that, however thirsty he was before immersion, he never continued so afterwards: nor did he ever perceive in his mouth any taste of saltness.

In case of extreme scarcity of fresh water, in long voyages, sailors, he remarks, might derive similar advantage by dipping their wearing apparel in the sea, and that without the least danger of cold.

7. That life may be protracted many weeks by mere water alone, will appear less wonderful when it is considered, that water consists of vital and inflammable air, and most probably undergoes a decomposition in the human frame; that its vital portion renews and invigorates the living principle, while its inflammable part supplies nutrition. For it can scarcely be doubted, that marine reptiles and fishes, that can subsist on water alone, are endowed with a power of decomposing it, and converting the inflammable part to their nourishment.

Hence, the swarms of insects in hot climates where inflammable air is copiously generated from putrid substances. Like plants, they thrive amidst putrefaction; convert the noxious effluvia into sustenance; and reject the vital air destined to sustain breathing animals. Were it not for this wise provision, the pernicious effluvia would, in such climates, prove a fruitful source of pestilence, and render a large portion of the globe uninhabitable.

On emergencies, therefore, when fresh water is wanting, sea-water, under proper management, may afford a better substitute than is generally imagined.

Here it deserves notice, that water may be preserved sweet, during the longest voyage, by the following simple process. Having filled the cask with water in which quick-lime is quenched, let it stand till the inside of the cask has acquired a thin coat of lime; then rinse out the cask, and re-fill it with fresh water for the voyage, adding a few handfuls of recent charcoal dust, a portion of which may be also kept for use in a bottle tight-corked. It not only preserves water sweet, but even restores putrid or corrupt water, which only requires afterwards to be filtered. This, and all other extraneous substances contained in water, not by solution, but diffussion only, may be most expeditiously separated by Mr. Peacock’s Patent Machine, which has been found, by experiment, to filter 720 gallons of water in twenty-four hours, divesting it of all such accidental impurities. This invention promises much utility to persons by land, as well as by sea, and may be seen at the Surveyor’s Office, Guildhall, London.

8. To prevent in future voyages the terrible calamity of famine at sea, portable soup and farinaceous vegetables ought to constitute part of the ship’s provisions. To assuage the sensation of hunger, and enable the body to bear long fasting, oleaginous substances are well adapted, as beef and mutton suet, rich cheese, fresh butter, sweet almonds, also mucilaginous substances, as salop, tapioca, and particularly gum arabic, which, according to M. Hasselquist, supported more than one thousand persons in the desarts of Arabia, who, being left destitute of other provisions, subsisted upon it solely during the space of two months.

9. The treatment of shipwrecked mariners when nearly exhausted by cold and hunger, demands no small circumspection. At first they loath the sight of meat; but on a sudden the appetite grows voracious, and prompts them to devour more food than the digestive organs can assimilate. Their native warmth also, being greatly impaired, should be very gradually restored by a tepid bath; and the food should consist of new milk, barley-water, or weak broth, in very small quantity, which, in this state of more than infantile debility, will be found sufficiently powerful; avoiding, at the same time, the common error of pouring down wine, spirits, or other stimulating cordials, which, instead of supporting life, too often exhaust the feeble remnant of vitality^[3].