Mission

One of the side effects that can occur is a drooping eyelid. If that happened, I would look even more piratical.

Well boys and girls, looks like i am out. I have bleeding in my right eye (a complication of long-term diabetes) which we've been trying to treat without surgery, but that has failed. So my doctor scheduled a victrectomy for me the week before the event and I won't be able to drive or fly for some time after it. (You're not supposed to move your head very much for several weeks or lie on your back because... well, I won't describe this operation itself, but you can look it up if you like. Don't do it if you're squeamish. ) Sorry about that. On another note, the first victrectomy is believed to have been performed by Dutch surgeon Anton Nuck in the late 17th century. So it has period roots. (I may have to expand my article on eye surgery...)

Whatever is decided, the food should probably be purchased on the way in. Unless things have changed dramatically since I was there, the closest big grocery store is back in Mobile. BTW, I will only be on site on Saturday and was sort of planning to eat at a restaurant Saturday night, possibly off island. I mention this only because as the sole vegetarian, I would probably be a PITA diner for Saturday dinner. And my hotel comes with a "full Southern breakfast", so I will likely only be eating lunch with the crew. Just FYI.

Is Iron Jon coming?

I found one for sale on ETSY... for $60+. (So maybe it's a project worth considering after all. ) (BTW, I reserve the right to be wrong about them being common in the GAoP because I haven't written the article that concerns eating utensils and dishes yet. I always learn things I didn't know and sometimes end up having to modify my views after a deep dive into a particular topic. They were found on the wreck of the Mary Rose, but that sank in 1545.)

They might well have gotten the idea from here. I was most fascinated with Dampier's Coconut back in 2008. BTW, a few years back, I wrote extensively on drinkware, including the coconut chalice. Although, to be fair, it was primarily something of the wealthy English, being made out of coconuts brought back to the mother country as I understand it. https://www.piratesurgeon.com/pages/surgeon_pages/booze3.html in addition, I wrote quite a bit about the fruit itself on my website. https://www.piratesurgeon.com/pages/surgeon_pages/food_type_fruit3.html#coconut

Here are some more after-period images related to dining on a ship. Sailors Eating, Mr. Midshipman Marryat arrives on his new ship, Frederick Marrat, 1820 Fold Down Mess Table, HMS Bounty II (original built 1787), wiki user BrokenSphere A couple of the HMS Victory (1758) from the website of Andy and Judi Patterson taken in 2017 at Portsmouth. Portsmouth., HMS Victory (1758), Gun Crew Work Station/Messroom Table, Andy Patterson Portsmouth, HMS Victory (1758), Messroom Plates, Andy Patterson

While I haven't found any period images that show eating from the GAoP itself, I do have some later period images. My impression is that the trencher (the square thing with the plate milled into the middle of it up there from the Victoria and Albert Museum) would be the most appropriate. These later images suggest bowls, however. (Note - the big bowl is a punch bowl, not a serving bowl. In fact, the smaller bowl near it may well be an individual punch bowl. Most images of sailors at table show them drinking punch rather than eating.) Four Marines eating Pease on board the Pallas, By Gabriel Bray, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Nov 1774 From The British Sailor's Loyal Toast, The British Tar in Fact and Fiction, 1738, p. 136

Thinking on it, I remembered some other episodes of borrowing other cultural practices which argue against body decoration by sailors (albeit rather indirectly). They both come from buccaneer Lionel Wafer's account which focusing on his life among the Cuna natives of Panama. "...we had four Women to carry our Provision, and my Cloaths, which were only a Linnen Frock and pair of Breeches. These I saved to cover my Nakedness, if ever I should come among Christians again; for at this time I went naked as the Savages, and was painted by their Women; but I would not suffer them to prick my Skin [a real tattooing], to rub the Paint in, as they use to do, but only to lay it on in little specks." (A New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of America, Lionel Wafer and George Parker Winslow, p. 58) "The four English Men with me were presently known and caress'd by the Ships Crew; but I sat a while cringing upon my Hams among the Indians, after their Fashion, painted as they were, and all naked but but only about the Waist, and with my Nose-piece (of which more hereafter) hanging over my Mouth. I was willing to try if they would know me in the Disguise; and 'twas the better part of an Hour before one of the Crew, looking more narrowly upon me, cry'd out, Here's our Doctor... I did what I could presently to wash off my Paint, but 'twas near a Month before I could get tolerably rid of it, having had my Skin so long stain'd with it, and the Pigment dried on in the Sun: And when it did come off, 'twas usually with the peeling off of Skin as well." [emphasis mine] (Wafer and Winslow, p. 64-5) Two points of interest here: First, the natives that Wafer was living with wore a crescent-shaped nose ring which covered part of their mouth. He noted that it had to be lifted when eating and drinking and was quite impractical - suggesting, in combination with the fact that he ran around in similar clothes (or lack thereof), that he had allowed himself to be tattooed as a part of looking like his hosts - he had really "gone native." Note particularly the comment about his concerns about coming "among Christians again." Second, I emphasize a point in the second quote to show that Wafer wanted to be rid of his "temporary" tattoo as soon as he was recognized as a member of the crew. This indicates it was unacceptable even among the sailors and suggests he wanted to fit in again when he got back among English sailors. Another sailor was apparently not quite so wise and "suffered them to prick their Skin" which he then wanted removed. "One of my Companions desired me once to get out of his Cheek one of these imprinted Pictures, which was made by the Negroes, his Name was Bullman; which yet I could not effectually do, after much scarifying [making small incisions and then drawing blood from them using heated bleeding bowls placed on the skin to create a vaccuum] and fetching off a great part of the Skin." (Wafer and Winslow, p. 136-7)

Incidentally, the English had tinder boxes for starting fires. If you'd like to know more, this topic may interest you:

And therein lies the problem. As when I first responded to your question about multi-lingual sailors, I don't know of any examples of cultural borrowing of the top off my head. But I don't really look for this sort of thing either. It does sort of remind me of an episode I love to bring up when someone starts talking about pirates wearing black, albeit for a very different reason. To wit: "I had then but one Bundle [of my possessions] left [after the pirates took the rest of his possessions], in which was a black Suit of Cloaths, and other things which this Gang [La Bouche, Cocklyn and Davis] had spared. They being gone out of the Cabin, a Pirate, who was tolerably sober, came in soon after, and seeing my Bundle, said, He would see what was in it; which in prudence I did not oppose. He __ then took out my black Cloaths, a good Hat and Wig, and some other Things. Wereupon I told him, 'Captain Cocklyn's Quarter-master had given them to me; and I hoped he would not deprive me of them; for they were of no service to him in so hot a Country, but would soon be of great use to me, as I should soon return to England." I had hardly done speaking, when he lifted up his broad Sword, and gave me a Blow on the Shoulder with the flat side of it; whispering at the same time these Words in my Ear, "I give you this Caution, never to dispute the Will of a Pirate: For, supposing I had cleft your Scull asunder for your Impudence, what would you have got by it but Destruction? Indeed you may flatter your self, I should have been put to death for killing a Prisoner in cold Blood; but assure your self my Friends would have brought me off on such an Occasion." I gave him thanks for his Admonition, and soon after he put on the Cloaths, which in less than half an hour after, I saw him take __ off and throw overboard. For some of the Pirates seeing him dress'd in that manner, had thrown several Buckets of Claret upon him." (William Snelgrave, A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea, 1724, pp. 235-7) Now, the reason I bring this up is because the pirate who took the black clothes was adopting a behavior which was different than what he would normally adopt - in this case, wearing more formal, black clothing. His fellow pirates responded by pouring wine on him so he removed the clothing and threw it over the side. He resisted adopting the new behavior because of peer pressure. I also recall an episode where some sailors were making fun of the type of hats the Dutch wore, indicating that they resisted borrowing Dutch behaviors. (Although I don't remember where that was, so you may want to discount it.) Anyhow, I am inclined to think that cultural (or even intercultural) borrowing was limited. However, I could well be wrong. The case of the buccaneers practicing bucaining seem to me to have been as much of necessity as trying something new. Dampier, OTOH, was an experimenter and tried all SORTS of things out of the norm, which sort of supports your theory. Although, most of the time, he appears to have gone back to his regular practices. In the end, people are people. Some are curious, some are not, some adventurous, some not, etc. The idea of people 'cross-cultural borrowing' is more esoteric than multilingualism. I was able to answer the multilingualism question by doing searches for relevant words. I don't see that being possible here. As a result, proving (or rather, disproving the idea that it never happened, which is how you would go about this) basically requires reading through the period sources to find examples to support it. So, sir, I challenge you to find the answer to your question and share it when you do. Below is a link to my page which lists the sailors' books from the period that I use to write articles about the topics that interest me. The majority of them can be found in PDF form for free on Google Books. (I make it easy by linking to them.) Read them. Find examples to support your theory. Even if you don't prove it, you will have learned a great deal about the sailors and pirates of the time and gained a fine understanding of life at sea during this time. As a result, you'll know far more than most people do. It's win/win. 🙂 https://piratesurgeon.com/pages/surgeon_pages/pirate_bibliography.html

Traillink lists it as a paved trail, 13.3 miles long, so about 26 miles out and back. (I see what looks like gravel in one of the user photos, though. Although Traillink is usually really good about indicating when a trail is only partially paved.) My bike is a hybrid, so I primarily do paved and gravel bike trails, usually looking for those that I can do in an hour or two.

This explains a lot. It is not entirely surprising because the Portuguese were the first Europeans to explore India by way of the sea. "[Aden, Yemen, 1702] The people that came off to us in this boat were some of the top of the Town; as a priest, the Meobar or Chief of the Custom house, and the head Bannian or broker of the place, etc., the last of which was the best interpreter we had, he understanding a little Portuguese, or sort of Lingua frank [lingua franca - a common language used by people who speak different languages], which is spoke through all the trading parts of India almost, though but little or nothing of it here, this being a place of hardly any traffic of-late years, especially for Europeans, we being one of the first English ships that ever was in here, as twas said." (Francis Rogers, "The Journal of Francis Rogers", Three Sea Journals of Stuart Times, Bruce Ingram, ed., 1936, p. 165) Lingua franca is another important indication as to how discussion was facilitated and it comes up repeatedly in the sailor's literature. Surgeon John Covel, who sailed on the merchant ship London Merchant to the Mediterranean explained while at Carthage in 1673: "We were informed by our Guides, who spoke broken ltalian and lingua Franca (which is bastard Spanish, mixt with words of most trading nations), that from Cape Carthage to the Castle was once Terra firma, full of rubbish as the rest now is, but by an Earthquake it sunk down." (John Covel, "Diary", Early Voyages in the Levant, Thomas Dallam, ed., 1893, p. 122) Sailor Edward Coxere (mentioned previously) said that while he was in Porto Farina (modern Ghar al Milh, Tunisia): "I was the more esteemed of because I had the language [of Porto Farina] which was generally spoken, called lingua franca." (Edward Coxere, Adventures by Sea of Edward Coxere, 1946, p. 87) Dampier notes while at Pulo Condere (modern Con Son Island, Vietnam) that, "The Inhabitants of this Island are by Nation Cochinchinese, as they told us, for one of them spake good Malayan: which Language we learnt a smattering of, and some of us so as to speak it pretty well while we lay at Mindanao, and this is the common Tongue of Trade and Commerce (though it be not in several of them the Native Language) in most of the East India Islands, being the Lingua Franca, as it were, of these parts. I believe 'tis the vulgar Tongue at Malacca, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo; but at Celebes, the Philippine Islands and the Spice islands, it seems borrowed for the carrying on of Trade." William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, 1699, p. 394-5) There are some others, but you see the point. Like everything else, communication between sailors and others was accomplished via several methods. But there does not seem to have been a formal method, nor did everyone speak all the different languages required to communicate with each other. Some people, like Coxere, were adept at learning new languages and others weren't. Sailors of different nations seem to have primarily talked though such gifted men. In the interest of trade, foreign nations learned enough of a language to carry on conversations so they could sell their goods. So it was all done just like it is today, really.

Informational rabbit holes. Once I get started, I can't resist them, especially when the information I find teaches me something I didn't know. I can't tell you how many times questions like this have led to my writing articles on my website. This one doesn't really fit, but you can never tell...

This is interesting because it indicates how the East India Company tried to deal with the language problem at the Cape of Good Hope. It is told as a history without specifics, so the dates are uncertain - it only says this all began 'in Elizabethan times', but it was likely in the early 1600s. It is worth noting that sailor Hamilton's book contains a variety of factual errors and should probably be taken with a grain of salt. "A few Years after they had left it, the English East-India Company considering what Importance a Port would be of to their Shipping, both in their outward and homeward bound Passages to and from India, were resolved to make another Trial for a Settlement there, and, in order to accomplish their Design, obtained a Reprieve for three condemned Male factors [men in charge of factories aka. warehouses], to be carried thither in order to learn the Language, to serve for Interpreters, and to inspect, as far as they could, into the Manners and Customs of the native Hottentots, and of the Product and Commerce of the Country; After they had been there three Years without being able to learn any of their Language, or to teach any of the Natives a Word of English, a Ship was ordered, in her Passage from India, to call there, to know what was become of these three Persons, and arriving there, found them all alive, but very tired with their manner of living... Some Years after the Experiment was made on the aforesaid Criminals, an English Ship coming there for Water and Provisions, in their Way homeward to England, the Captain had the Curiosity to detain a Youth that came on board his Ship, and, being ready to sail, carried him to England, where he staid some Years, clothed well after the English Fashion, and kept at School to learn to speak and read English; and, when the East-India Company thought him well enough qualified to serve for an Interpreter, they sent him back to his own Country, very well clothed. Assoon as he appeared ashore among his Friends and Relations, he pulled off his English Apparel, and put on his Country Habit..." (Alexander Hamilton, A new account of the East Indies, 1746, p. 2-3)

Still looking into this because it's an interesting topic that I haven't seen discussed before. (Clearly I don't remember everything I read because there is quite a bit more about how this was done than I recalled.) I did find an example of a forced interpreter by Thomas Pound's pirates after they captured a fishing vessel near Nantucket and kept the crew aboard. They intended to take another, better vessel and go to the Caribbean, which is where this takes place. "...Hawkins and his crew in the ketch, steered a course to the northeast, taking with them John Darby of Marblehead, who went voluntarily, and forcing a boy who could speak French, intending to use him as an interpreter..." (Dow and Edmonds, The Pirates of the New England Coast 1630-1730, 1996, p. 56-7) "[1697, East Indiaman Scepter] Coming out of the Governor's house, we were again set upon the Governor's horses, with very fine harness on them, and conducted to our broker's house, who was our linguister and was to be interpreter and help us to do what business we had occasion for." (Edward Barlow, Edward Barlow's Journal of His Life at Sea In Kings Ships - 1559 - 1703, 1934, p. 479) "[Buccaneers, May 1681] On Saturday Jacob Marquess our Truchman or Interpreter, and an Indian Boy [this doesn't refer to Marquess] ran away from us to the Spaniards; this person was a Dutchman, who was a good Linguist..." (Basil Ringrose, The Voyages of Capt. Sharp and others, 1684, p. 80) "[Aug. 25, 1709, Marquesa] Having been discover'd some Days before we came in, the Indians had Time to secure all they had, and drive their Cattel into the Woods, where it was impossible for us to come at them, therefore sent our Interpreter, and a Spanish Captain [apparently a prisoner from another capture], to know whether they would trade, and we would pay them for all we had, or else would burn their Houses." (Edward Cooke, Voyage to the South Seas, 1712, V1, p. 315) "[March 8, 1710, Guam] We presently sent away Mr. White, our Interpreter, and one Murphy, an Irishman taken in the Batchelor, with a Letter to the Governor, and detained a Spaniard as Hostage, 'till their Return. He sent a very obliging Answer, promising to supply us with what the Island afforded..." (Cooke, V1, p. 6) "[~1650, unnamed Dutch merchant vessel - This is early, but I thought it was a fascinating use of an interpreter] Though I was ashore, I was not safe because of the press, neither did I dare speak English. This kind Ducth skipper was so much my friend that he went with me to be my interpreter to hire a horse for me, lest in speaking English I might be discovered." (Edward Coxere, Adventures by Sea of Edward Coxere, 1946, p. 26-7) [early 1721, English navy interpreter] I was on board the Salisbury, Pilot and Interpreter for Capt. Cockburn, and was Interpreter for the Squadron with the Viceroy of Goa [India]..." (Clement Downing, A Compendious History of the Indian Wars, 1737, p. 62) More later...

Every example up there is either for pirates, privateers or buccaneers and none of them specifically mention pressing someone into service or treating them any differently than others on board. OTOH, there are specific mentions of special treatment of surgeons, musicians and carpenters. Here are some other examples of the GHoP. "[Thomas Howard] At length the Pyrates forced Captain Woolley, who spoke the Moors' Language, to go on board [a captured ship] and offer Quarters, which they accepted..." (Daniel Defoe (Captain Charles Johnson), The General History of the Pyrates, Manuel Schornhorn, ed., 1999, p. 494) Here's another example, which likewise suggests they made use of someone without affording them any special treatment. "[Nathaniel North] As the Pyrates had on board several black Slaves, who spoke the East-India Tongue, one of them was ordered to enquire of him where they might find Water, promising him his Liberty if he would direct them." (Defoe (Captain Charles Johnson), p. 522) Both translators were prisoners, but there is no mention of pressing them into service specifically because of their language skills, nor of special consideration. So I'd have to say it is doubtful unless some more encouraging evidence is produced.

Looking around, I found that Dampier spoke Spanish. "It was not long before one of the. Priests' came into the Room to me, and received me very civilly. With him I had a great deal of discourse: he was a French Man by Nation, but spoke Spanish nd Portuguese very well. It was chiefly in Spanish that we entertained each other, which I understood much better, than I could speak..." (William Dampier, A Supplement of the Voyage Round the World, Book 1, 1700, p. 94) Here are some interesting quotes about speaking foreign languages. "We had notice these [Spanish] Ladies had some conceal'd Treasure about them, and order'd a Female Negro that we took, and who spoke English, to search them narrowly, and found some Gold Chains and other things cunningly hid under their Clothes." (Woodes Rogers, A Cruising Voyage Round the World, 1712, p. 243) "...we took those [African] Women aboard, only because they spoke English, and begg'd to be admitted for Landresses, Cooks and Semstresses." (Woodes Rogers, A Cruising Voyage Round the World, 1712, p. 279) "[1690, Chennai, India] Some time after this, Mr. Moody, who spoke the Malayan Language [I believe he is referring to HIndi although there are many, many dialects over a hundred languages used in India, and hundreds of dialects] very well, and was a Person very capable to manage the [East India] Company's Affairs, was ordered by the Governor of Fort St. George to prepare to go to Indrapore, an English Factory on the West Coast of Sumatra..." (William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, 1699, p. 511) "[Tonquin, China, 1688] I could not be informed of my Guide what this [what Dampier was witnessing] meant but some time after when I was returned to our Ship, the Guide's brother, who spoke English, told me, it was a Funeral Feast..." (William Dampier, A Supplement of the Voyage Round the World, Book 1, 1700, p. 92) "[1699, Portuguese settlement at Pante Massacar, Timor] I staid there about two Hours, and we spoke to each other by an Interpreter." (William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, Vol III, 1703, p. 41) "[1699] The Gunner spoke very good French, and therefore I took him to be my Interpreter, because the Governour [on Timor] speaks French..." (William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, Vol III, 1703, p. 49-50) "145. The Weekly Journal, or British Gazetteer. 6 September 1718 Philadelphia, July 3. Colston arriv'd from Antego, and Webb from Barbadoes; the former was taken under the Tropick by a Spanish Pyrate with about 80 Men in a Rhode-Island built Briganteen, an extraordinary Sailor, they took from him two Casks of Water, the fresh Provisions, and some Rum; the Pyrate had a Consort Sloop they parted with the Day before, they wore Spanish Colours, many of them spoke good English." (Ed Fox, Pirates in Their Own Words II, 2022, p. 92) "[Thomas Tew, 1693] There is a. Moorman [this is a general term, referring to natives in the East Indies] on board taken amongst them, whom they have learnt their Lingo, and he is their interpreter to all [the local East India ships] they take..." (Item 397, Charles Hill, "NOTES ON PIRACY IN EASTERN WATERS", The Indian Antiquity, May, 1926, p. 93) There are more, but you get the general idea. They seem to have primarily relied on interpreters.

Actually, I mistakenly left out a part of that statement. What I meant to say was that I had seen badly mangled spellings of foreign words for places, foods, animals and such in English sailor's books. The makes it more sense with the Dampier comment. (Incidentally, Dampier was remarkably good at spelling such words correctly or close enough that it was easy to figure out what the word was. Much more so than other sailor's books from the period.) While the English language was still under some development during the GAoP, it was better codified than you might think. Comparing books from the early 17th century to those in the early 18th century by surgeons that I have read, it had improved quite dramatically over the century. Of course, spelling of foreign words would have been done phonetically. In addition, spelling among common men like sailors (and, to a lesser extent, among some government officials) could be pretty poor. However, I have a variety of dictionaries from before or during the golden age of piracy and the spelling of their words agree fairly well with each other. (Note, I have multiple editions of some of them because later editions have added words. I often use them when writing my articles, usually as a way to show when a word was in common enough usage to be included in a dictionary.)

I don't recall seeing much in the way of reference to speaking other languages in the English sailor's books I've got from the period. Although I HAVE seen badly mangled spellings for places, foods, animals and such in English sailor's books. Dampier in particular includes foreign words for some of the many interesting things he found to describe in his books. None of which means that those interested wouldn't have learned enough of other languages to communicate. As you suggest, it is likely that a certain amount of Dutch and/or French would have been helpful for mixed crews. The Spanish were almost never on the same side as the English during this period so I wouldn't think having a crew of Spanish speakers would have been all that important. You really only needed one or two people who spoke both languages in most situations. In fact, I seem to recall somebody, probably Shelvocke or Rogers, mentioning that they had a crewmember who spoke both Spanish and English who was used to communicate with prisoners and/or combatants.

Michael - we must do that. It'll be easy for me since I already have it packed and ready to go. It's a carry on, so it won't even take much room. And there's this bike path in Lima that I would really like to ride... To be clear, I am NOT talking about the security checkpoint when going to the gate. I was going to check the bag. But they still x-ray luggage there as well, as the notes I have found in my luggage after I retrieve it indicate. (I sent my clyster syringe in a checked bag and that got checked. Rightfully so, it probably looked like a pipe bomb. Alas, the thing got bent in the last shipment to Key West and no longer works, so the clyster syringe is not making this trip.)

I managed to pack a sufficient amount of surgical gear into a small suitcase, but I am wondering if that is the best way to get it there. I am afraid an x-ray scan of all that metal junk will cause them to open it and the contents will come spilling out, possibly damaging some of it. (It's packed in both sides of the suitcase and has to be opened the right way.) From past love notes left by airport personnel in other searched suitcases and the resulting mess they leave, I know they are not careful, tossing everything back inside higgledy-piggledy once they've rooted around.

That would be worth trying, although I gave up on the medicine chest project years ago because it would be too heavy and delicate to be worth shipping to events. The little chest your father made for me works just fine for long-distance transport. (And even that, packed with bubble wrap and such has still resulted in several broken bottles. Shipping companies view fragile signs as a challenge. In fact, I was once told by someone who worked for a shipping company NOT to put fragile labels on boxes.)

I actually found a link to some bottles I was looking at. https://www.specialtybottle.com/glass-bottles/corked/250ml-cksq250 BTW, green glass bottles are not dark green, they're basically clear bottles with a green tint. The clearer a glass was, the more desirable it was considered because you could see what was in it. However, truly clear glass was harder to make, so it was more expensive. Here is a link to a green glass bottle: http://www.piratesurgeon.com/pages/surgeon_pages/images/green_glass_medicine_bottle_broken_lip.jpg

I mentioned it above, but I have an article about medicine containers which contains a section on labels. You will find it here: http://www.piratesurgeon.com/pages/surgeon_pages/medicine_containers1.html I found square-bottomed bottles years ago, although I don't remember where. To get the exactly correct as described in the article would be difficult. You'd almost certainly have to find someone who made them themselves and would agree to make them of flint or green glass, double dipped with square bottoms. (Expensive.) Since most people are more interested in what's inside the bottle, the more reasonable way would be to find a fairly good proxy that was mass produced since you want a bunch of matching bottles.