The Prudent, though now quite healthy, had been sickly soon after being put into commission in Europe, and upon first arriving in America. She had been uncommonly sickly, when a new ship, upon her first voyage, which was to the East Indies, during the peace. This remarkable degree of sickness was probably owing to a particular experiment that was made in preparing the wood of which she was built. This experiment consisted in soaking the timber for a length of time in a strong pickle, in order to make it less corruptible. The only other ship on which the trial of this was made was the Intrepid; and it has been already mentioned that this was an extremely sickly ship. The effect of it upon the wood was to cause a constant moisture and mouldiness in the orlops and holds. In the Intrepid, the sickness was never conquered till a practice was followed of pumping and bailing her with great care, and putting a fire into the well for six hours every day, by which means the dampness, and the mildew produced by it, were removed and prevented, and the ship thereby rendered healthy. The two squadrons being united, and consisting of thirty-four ships of the line, proceeded to St. Lucia, where they arrived on the 1st of March. I received monthly returns as formerly, and the form of them was improved by adding a column for the numbers taken ill of the several diseases in the course of the month. The returns of February are not complete, there being none for the 1st of that month, as we had not then arrived; but as the returns of the 1st of March have relation to the preceding month, a judgement may be formed of the sickness and mortality of February from the following table: EXTRACT from the RETURNS of the 1st of March, 1782. +------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ | |Put on the | Died last |Sent to the| | DISEASES. | Sick List |last Month.| Hospital | | |last Month.| |last Month.| +------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ | Fevers | 53 | 15 | 9 | | | | | | | Fluxes | 263 | 67 | 0 | | | | | | | Scurvy | 121 | 2 | 5 | | | | | | | Other Complaints | 618 | 25 | 59 | +------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ | Total | 1555 | 109 | 73 | +------------------+-----------------------+-----------+ This account is abstracted from the returns of twenty-nine ships of the line, and two frigates.