In the recent article ‘Who was James Lind, and what exactly did he achieve’, Iain Milne1 refers to John Woodall's, the Surgeon General of the East India Company, book The Surgions Mate published in 1617. Woodall recommended ensuring that ‘There is a good quantity of lemon juice sent in each ship’.
Bowen et al.2 in their book ‘Monsoon Traders: The maritime world of the East India Company’ recount the basis for this recommendation.
In February 1601 the newly established East India Company dispatched its first fleet to the East Indies under the command of (Sir) James Lancaster, a director of the East India Company. The fleet consisted of the Red Dragon, 600 tons carrying 200 men and 38 guns, three smaller ships each armed with 24 guns namely Hector 300 tons and 108 men, Susan 240 tons and 88 men and Ascension 260 tons and 82 men.
James Lancaster had ‘certain bottles of Lemon Juice’ which he gave to each man on the Red Dragon ‘as long as it would last’ ‘three spoonfuls every morning fasting and not suffering them to eat anything until after noon’.
On 9 September 1601 the fleet had reached Table Bay (Cape of Good Hope) and the fleet had lost 105 men to scurvy out of a total of 468 men. Lancaster's ship, Red Dragon had avoided significant loss. It is uncertain the actual distribution of cases between the four ships, but it is clear that nearly all the cases were on the Hector, Susan and the Ascension.
Competing interests
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References
- 1.Milne I Who was James Lind, and what did he achieve. J R Soc Med 2012;105:503–8 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Bowen HV, McAleer J, Blythe RJ Monsoon Traders: The maritime world of the East India Company (2012) London: Scala Publishers Ltd for National Maritime Museum, citing Markham CR (ed). The Voyages of Sir James Lancaster, Kt., to the East Indies. London: The Hakluyt Society, 1877:71–100 [Google Scholar]