A certain proportion of barley has also of late been substituted for part of the oatmeal, which being more light and palatable, makes a pleasing variety, particularly to the sick and recovering. Captain Cook carried wheat with him, and found it to answer equally well. Might not potatoes also be a proper and salutary substitute, as they will keep a considerable length of time in a warm climate, and they have been successfully employed in their raw state for the cure of scurvy? It would not be right, however, to abolish oatmeal entirely; for there is a certain preparation of it which is an antiscorbutic of equal efficacy with any whatever, except the juice of lemons and oranges. This is flummery, or sowins, which is prepared by letting oatmeal and water stand together till they grow acidulous, and then boiling them into a jelly. I know of some well-attested instances of the crews of ships being saved from the scurvy by this alone. Butter is a good article of victualling in so far as it renders that part of the diet which consists of grain and vegetables more palatable, and thereby induces men to eat more. But as it is extremely corruptible in a warm climate, hardly any being used by the seamen but what is more or less rancid, it should never be sent to a tropical station. Greater quantities of it are condemned than of any other article of victualling, and it is therefore the most expensive to Government. There are certain articles that are the natural produce of the West-India islands, which may be substituted for it with the greatest advantage. These are sugar and cocoa[71], which, during the last year of the war, were served in place of butter with great success, and this proved an alteration in diet not only salutary, but agreeable to the seamen, whose inclinations are always to be consulted in such changes[72]. When a ship is in port, encouragement should be given to the sale of roots, greens, fruits, and sugar. The men have a good custom of exchanging part of their bread, beef, and pork, for what they can get from the shore; but as they in general prefer spirituous liquors to the above-mentioned articles, the greatest care and vigilance should be used to preclude men from such opportunities of injuring themselves[73]. Every ship should be furnished with a seine, and other implements for fishing, when in harbour. When captures are made, in which there are such articles as sugar, wine, rice, or fruits, it would be much better in many cases to allow the immediate use of them at sea, where the men may be disposed to scurvy or other diseases, than to wait for the conversion of them into money.