It is of great consequence that the purser should lay in a sufficient stock of clothing and bedding suited to the climate for which the ship is destined, in order that there may be a sufficient supply after having been on a distant station for a certain length of time. I have known men suffer the greatest inconvenience and hardship, and infectious diseases kept up, from the neglect of this. The greatest evil connected with clothing is the infection generated by wearing it too long without shifting; for to this cause we have attributed the jail, hospital, or ship fever. The great importance of cleanliness appeared when we were treating of infection, from whence we may judge of what consequence it is that men should be provided with a shift of linen, as that part of the clothing which is in contact with the skin is most likely to harbour infection[83]. As clothing is not the gift of nature, being left to man’s own reason, it is subject to caprice, and thereby productive of inconvenience and disease. The necessity of it depends very much upon habit, like every thing else relating to the human body, and therefore sudden and unseasonable changes of apparel are very unsafe to health. It is also found that a partial exposure of the body is more pernicious than a general exposure. If I were writing for the more delicate part of the world, I should illustrate this by the danger of exposing the feet alone to cold or wet. It is seldom that seamen are susceptible to so great a degree, for their hardy and exposed life steels them against such impressions. But there is another circumstance which renders it of the utmost consequence to defend the feet against external injury. It frequently happens, that, without any visible symptoms of scurvy, the constitutions of seamen are such, that, upon the least scratch being received on the feet or legs, a large spreading incurable ulcer arises; which sometimes ends in the loss of a limb; but at any rate disables them from duty till a cure can be effected by the use of a fresh and vegetable diet, or a change of climate. Next to acute diseases and scurvy, this is the most destructive complaint incident to a sea life, particularly in a hot climate; and I have known great numbers of good men thereby lost to the service. It is, therefore, of the utmost consequence that men should not only be supplied with shoes, but be obliged to wear them, which is found to require a degree of compulsion; for in the West Indies it is observed that seamen always wish to go barefooted.