It was in this season of cruising, and keeping the sea, that the fleet contracted such a degree of scurvy as had never before been known in the West Indies. This disease is not so apt to arise in a hot climate as in a cold one; and the prevalence of it on this occasion was owing to the men having been for a great length of time upon sea victualling; for one part of the fleet had not had a fresh meal from the time of leaving America, that is, for six months; and that part of it which came last from England had been in the same circumstances for seven months; nor had any of them been in a place capable of supplying vegetable refreshments from the time they left Barbadoes in the end of January. But though no fresh meat or vegetables could be procured at St. Lucia or St. Eustatius, yet the scurvy did not make such progress in the ships that lay at anchor there, as in those that were at sea; and it appears that the time in which it prevailed most was, while the greatest number of ships was at sea, that is, in the month of March. It appears, indeed, by the Table, that there was a greater number ill of this complaint on the 1st of May than on the 1st of April; but it appears also, that more were sent to the hospital in March than in April, and very near half of the May list must have been taken ill in March[4]. The difference of being in port and at sea consists chiefly, 1st, In there being plenty of water while in port, so that it can be used freely, not only to drink, but to wash the clothes; and we know that cleanliness tends greatly to ward off the scurvy. 2dly, Though no fresh meat nor vegetables could be procured at those ports, sugar, which may be considered as a very antiscorbutic article of diet, could always be procured at a very cheap rate, and the seamen, when in port, used to exchange their salt provisions for it. 3dly, There is at sea a dismal uniformity of life, favourable to indolence and sadness, and therefore tending to hasten the progress and aggravate the symptoms of the scurvy; whereas the change of scene and variety of objects, when in port, tend to cheer and recreate the mind, and thereby to avert this disease.