[29] The mortality of the army in the West Indies is much greater; for it appears by the returns of the War Office, that there died in the year 1780, two thousand and thirty-six soldiers, which being calculated by the numbers on the station, and those who arrived in the convoy in March and July, the annual mortality is found to be one in four. The greatness of this mortality will appear in a still stronger light, when it is considered that those who serve in the army are the most healthy part of the community. When I was at the encampment at Coxheath in the year 1779, I was politely favoured with a sight of the returns, both of the general officers and physician, and it appeared that in an army of ten thousand and eighty-nine men, there died, from the 10th of June to the 2d of November, forty-three, exclusive of twelve who died of small pox. This being calculated, is equal to an annual mortality of one in a hundred and nine; and it was not half so much in the encampment of the former year. It appears by Mr. Simpson’s tables, that the mortality of mankind in England, from the age of twenty to forty-five, which includes the usual age of those who serve in the navy and army, is one in fifty. [30] See Table II. [31] See Table II. [32] None are comprehended but those who were killed or wounded in battles in which the whole fleet was present, this account not including those who fell in single actions in frigates or other ships. [33] It would appear, that, anciently, though the slaughter in battle was greater than in modern times, yet that disease was still more destructive than the sword. One of the oldest testimonies to this purpose is in the History of Alexander’s Expedition, by Arrian--τους μεν ἐν ταῖς μαχαις ἀπολωλεκασιν, ὁι δε ἐκ των τραυματων ἀπομαχοι γεγενημενοι, ὁι πλειοῦς δε νοσω ἀπολωλεσαν.--Arrian. Hist. Alex. Exped. Lib. v. cap. 26. [34] Upwards of three thousand were also lost at sea in ships of war belonging to the same fleets in the hurricane of October, 1780, and in the storm in September, 1782, in which the Ville de Paris and the other French prizes were lost on their passage to England. [35] The authors from whom I have borrowed have been chiefly Dr. Lind and Capt. Cook. To the former we are indebted for the most accurate observations on the health of seamen in hot climates; of the improvements made by the latter, an excellent compendium may be seen in Sir John Pringle’s Discourse before the Royal Society, on the occasion of adjudging a prize medal to Capt. Cook for his paper upon this subject. [36] In the late war sickness alone was not the cause of want of success in any instance, except in the last action in the East Indies, in which so many men were ill of the scurvy, that there were not hands enow to manage the guns.