Misson

"This Arabian lady [in an Arabian village located near the port of Aleppo in Scanderoon/Alexandretta] was tall and very slender, very swarthy of complexion and very thin-faced, as they all [are] generally; having nothing on but a thin loose garment, a kind of girdle about her middle and the garment open before. She had a ring in her left nostril, which hung down below her nether lip; at each ear a round globe as big as a tennis-ball, shining like gold and hanging (in chains that looked like gold) almost as low as her breast, which you might easily see, and loathe them for their ugly yellowish colour. She had also gold chains about her wrists, and the smalls of her naked legs. Her nails of her fingers were coloured almost red, and her lips coloured as blue as indigo; and so also was her belly from the naval to her hams, painted with blue like branches of trees or strawberry leaves. Nor was she cautious, but rather ambitious to show you this sight; as the only rarity of their sex or country." (The Journal of Henry Teonge, p. 142) The tennis-ball reference surprised me. I wonder if the editor changed the original word or if it is actually a reference to the sport of tennis that was being played at that time. From http://www.historyoftennis.net/history_of_tennis.html: "The first tennis ball was wooden. It gave way to a bouncier, leather ball filled with cellulose material. The monasteries across Europe cherished the game during the 14th century much to the chagrin of the Church. The game soon became very popular, predominantly in France where it was adopted by the royal family. During the period between the 16th and 18th centuries, the game called ' Jeu de paumme' - the game of the palm was a highly regarded by kings and noblemen. The French players would begin the game by shouting the word “tenez!” which meant “Play!” The game soon came to be called royal or “real tennis.”"

For your edification (despite my general lack of use for poetry, this is sort of funny): "A relation of some Passages happening when we were at Zante; where we tried which wine was the best; viz. of that which we had at Malta or that which we found then at Zante. Composed September 28 [1675]: I. Two great commanders at this place fell out, A Malta gallant and a Grecian stout; True Trojans both, equal for birth and valour, Small difference in habit or in colour; Ambitious only which should have the honour To fight the Turks under the English banner. II. Brave Syracusa, Malta's warlike knight, Displays his bloody flag much like a wight Of peerless courage (drawing forth his forces, Whose Colours were red, both foot and horses). Thus Hector once, that noble son of Priam Dared out the Grecian lads, only to try 'um. III. Rubola, hold as ere was Alexander, At this place was the merry Greeks' commander; Like a stout champion and a man of might Set up his standard, which was red and white. Thus Ajax with Ulysses had a fray Which would Achilles' armour bear away IV. Whilst these two combatants with large pretences Do praise, and boast, and brag their excellences, Our English squadron, being much in wrath, Vowed by St Geroge to be revenged on both. Thus Jove enraged, with thunder-bolts controlled The daring giants, 'cause they were so bold. V. Th' Assistance, Dragon, Dartmouth, all consent As firm as by an Act of Parliament; And quickly too, because they were no starters, Surprised Syracusa in his quarters; Whilst suddenly our gentry on the shore Spared not to turn Rubola o'er and o'er. VI. But two to one is odds, and so we found, For many of our men were run aground: Some would have stole away, but could not stand; Some were aboard, and could not get to land; Some lost their feeling, and ('twas strange to see't) they went as well upon their heads as feet. VII. Some would have fought, but, lifting up their hands Scarce to their heads, fell backwards on the sands; One lost his hearing; another could not see Which was his friend or which his enemy And, having lost their senses which they had, they whooped and holloa'd as they had been mad. VIII. Some by their friends were carried to their hammocks, And bed-rid lay, with pains in sides and stomachs; With fiery faces, and with aching brain, Their hands all dirt, their pulses beat amain; Which when the doctor did but touch would spue Good Syracusa and Rubola too. IX. Some talk, and swear like men in frantic fits, Whose vain discourse did much outrun their wits; Some were stroke dumb, not able to afford Their minds or meanings by a sign or word; Some, loth to speak, made signs, whose silent speeches Shewed the disease was sunk into their breeches. X. Some so outrageous that the corporal Was forced to cloister them in bilboes-hall; Some, seized to the mainmast, do their backs expose To th' nine-tailed cat or cherriliccum's blows; Some ready to be ducked, some left ashore, And many mischiefs I could tell you more. XI. The strangeness of their weapons, and their number, Caused us to lose a day, the field the plunder: The English used to fight with swords and guns, But here they met with barrels, butts and tuns. Boast now no more: you see what odds will do; Hector himself would never fight with two." (From The Journal of Henry Teonge, Chaplain on Board H.M.'s Ships Assistance, Bristol, and Royal Oak, 1675 - 1679, edited by G. E. Manwaring, p. 77-9) Some notes: Hector is from Greek mythology - a Trojan warrior (son of Priam and Hecuba) Bilboes are a sort of shackle, cherriliccum is a whip used for flogging A tun and a butt are each a measure of alcohol and/or a sort of cask.

Well, if you're dedicated you can get the a copy of the original in the Thompson-Gale Eighteenth Century Collections Online. You'll have to locate a university with access. My experience with this collection has been less than joyous, however. From my one experience with it, that database is harder to find than the Early English Books On-Line database and they don't seem to allow you to download the .pdf for your own use. So you basically have to print the thing out (at whatever cost per page the library charges.) Still, that will give you the indubitable source doc. On the plus side, you could just print the pages that interest you.

No comments. Lots of misspellings, odd capitalizations and italizations, which I try to reproduce as faithfully as I can. (See the above text. My computer sometimes corrects things for me when I retype them in Word. I'd turn it off, but it's generally more useful than it is harmful.) I wonder if the spellings have been corrected, though. It's awfully readable, despite the little oddities and nothing I've read that is actually from period is very readable. Unfortunately, this volume doesn't even have footnotes or endnotes to explain things, which is something I generally enjoy. Reprint what you've found and let's compare - it could be educational. (Although I can't imagine it's substatively different.) Now Barlow has been massively edited for spelling, but it's the only copy you can get as far as I can tell. I am currently reading Henry Teonge's diary where the author has inserted all his comments as endnotes and in braces, which seems the norm. However, he also has changed some of the spellings as the endnotes reveal. It's a fine line between making something readable to a modern audience and preserving the original transscript. (I just learned that Cales = Cadiz from the endnotes.) If you really want to try your patience, I'll send you a page or two of Woodall.

http://www.amazon.com/Cruising-Voyage-Arou...7287324&sr=8-10

I was poking around, looking for a reference when I stumbled across the Hakluyt society's webpage. (They publish books on world explorers and travels.) Anyhow, they appear to have some of their early books available on-line including the ones by Francisco De Orellana and Don Ferdinando de Soto which are mentioned and quoted in Woodes Roger's book. The seem to have been published on the Google UK site. Check 'em out here.

One word: library. Free as the day you were born if you have a card. Surely they have some pirate audio books. Learn to love the inter-library request system. (Many of them are audio-cassettes, tho'.) Although I find it deuced hard to concentrate on mental work when listening to a book on tape, so if your work requires your mind to be present to any extent, you may want to reconsider.

Yeah, I have references even before that (although not handy), so coffee was definitely a feature of the period. I have one account of a Mexican pirate (outside period) who searched for and specifically took ships laden with coffee which he traded with local villages and sold in Cuba. Coffee would almost certainly be kept aboard ship in whole bean form, so storage would not be as big an issue as if it were ground. As for cargo spoilage (if that's why you ask about how it was stored), Edward Barlow's journal seems to regard spoilage as an inevitable part of transport. Interesting note about it being stored in casks from Dutch. (This makes some sense - many things were stored in casks.) I wish I had access to my notes, as I sort of seem to recall mention of bags...but that may be for the Mexican, out-of-period pirate. Although I haven't any notes to specifically state such, I don't have the impression that coffee was considered the mandatory morning motivator it is today. I do recall reading that one sailor or pirate required his morning cuppa' before going about business. (And they didn't drink it out of mugs, and ye'll not say as much lest you want to bring the wrath of Capt. Sterling upon ye. )

So I happened to be in Niagara Falls (kitsch central) this morning when it occurred to me to look for the Indian Maiden in the Mists going over the falls in her canoe statue. I asked several wary service people who claimed to be natives of the locale about this and they claimed no knowledge of said statue or the TV show from whence it came. (You would think locals would at least be cognizant of a show set in their town, even if it did only last three episodes.) One guy told me that there was an Indian statue at Table Rock, which was only somewhat helpful. So I convinced my sister and her husband to walk along the path bordering the falls to see if we could locate the statue. I really wanted a picture of me with the statue. Never found it. I'm guessing it doesn't really exist. Failing that, we scurried back to our car and drove back to Niagra on the Lake (quaint central - every time I enter this town, I am reminded of the polka that starts playing each time Bill Murray walks into downtown Punxsutawney.) Another photo op missed because the subject is non-existent.

That could actually be a really cool way to get people to walk through the campsite. The campsite is between the best sand beach and the fort. However, to make sure there is space available and everything is kosher, you should really contact Harry (he works for the fort). You can contact him through his user profile: http://pyracy.com/forums/index.php?showuser=3585

John Goodman or Steve Buscemi.

I think it would take an awful lot to get people mad at Mae. She seemed awful sweet-natured to me.

You really want to see repetition, count the number of "Captains" we have in our stock of user names. You can't throw a shilling without it bouncing off a captain in the pub patronage. (Note, this is not so much so in regard to the regulars these days, however.)

I'm guessing that's a typo. Otherwise, it may be Gena Davis. (Which some people might like - I thought she was pretty wooden in her piratess role myself.) They should have me play the role. Peter Blood is a surgeon, you know. (Please to note: It is a joke. I would be absolutely hopeless, not to mention useless as an actor.)

To one of the three people I wanted to meet upon my first arriving in late 2004 (as user ID Mission).

Curiously, it actually is Jack & Jill, although Jack doesn't have an account here as far as I know.

Note that Wafer's account occurs before Rogers was wounded so there is nothing in his book about that. He left the voyage and stayed when the Indians when he was wounded. (It's from those same Indians that all that stuff about tattoos comes from.) Now, as it happens, I am exactly at the point in Roger's book where he was wounded and I underlined all the medically relevant parts, so I'll just round them up and put them in here since I'm entering them into my notes anyhow. "[Dec. 22, 1709] The Prize was call'd by the long Name of Nostra Sneiora de la Inearnacion Disenganio, Sir John Pichberty Commander; she had...193 Men aboard, whereof 9 were kill'd, 10 wounded, and several blown up and burnt with Powder. We engag'd 'em about 3 Glasses, in which time we had only my self and another Man wounded. I was shot thro' the Left Check, the Bullet struck away great pare [part] of my upper Jaw, and several of my Teeth, part of which dropt down upon the Deck, where I fell; the other, Will. Powell, an Irish Land-man, was slightly wounded in the Buttock. they did us no great Damage in our Rigging, but a shot disabled our Mizen Mast. I was forced to write what I would say, to prevent the Loss of Blood, and because of the Pain I suffer'd by Speaking... [Dec. 23, 1709]...Our Surgeons went aboard the Prize to dress the wounded men... [Dec. 24, 1709] ... In the Night I felt something clog my Throat, which I swallow'd with much Pain, and suppose it's a part of my Jaw Bone, or the Shot, which we can't yet give an account of. I soon recover'd my self; but my Throat and Head being very much swell'd have much ado to swallow any sort of Liquids for Sustenance." (Rogers, p. 158) "[Dec 26, 1709] I was in so weak a Condition, and my Head and Throat so much swell'd, that I yet spoke in great Pain, and not loud enough to be heard at any distance; so that all the rest of the chief Officers, and our Surgeons, would have perswaded me to stay in the Harbour in Safety." (Rogers, p. 160) "[Feb 17, 1710] On the 17th I was troubled with a Swlling in my Throat, which incommoded me very much, till this Morning I got out a Piece of my Jaw Bone, that lodg'd there since I was wounded." "[June 30, 1710] 8 Days ago the Doctor cut a large Musket Shot out of my Mouth, which had been there near 8 Months, ever since I was first wounded; we reckon'd it a Piece of my Jaw-bone, the upper and lower Jaw being much broken, and almost closed together, so that the Doctor had much ado to come at the Shot to get it out. I had also several Pieces of my Foot and Heel-bone taken out, but God be thanked, am now in a fair way to have the Use of my Foot and recover my Health. The Hole the shot made in my face is now scarce discernable." (Rogers, p. 204-5) And that's all I found. I may have missed some as I was scanning through all the underlined text; if so, I will put them up here. However, my impression is that the surgeons didn't do all that much for him based on this book. They probably dressed him after the wound occurred and just waited to see what would happen (For 7 months! Actually, this is what Woodall often suggests - let nature heal before attempting heroic surgical measures.) That way the swelling might go down enough to poke around. Remember that they had no anesthesia at this time and the patient just had to bear up for any poking or prodding. I don't believe I underlined the bit about the chair they rigged up for him since it wasn't medically relevant. So I guess you'll have to find that passage when you read it. Just some general comments about wounds from my reading, since you seem interested. Most wounds from cannon were a result of the splinters, not the cannon ball. Most deaths from such (and from gunshot) were from infection, especially in tropical areas. Some surgeons believed people could die from "the wind of the ball" of a cannon, being when a cannon ball passed close by someone. I haven't got any notes on that, because I thought it ridiculous when I read it, it was only in one book that had a lot of rather fruity ideas in it (the author was painting medicine as being absurd at this time) and there was no real procedure for it. But the idea is still sort of fascinating. Burning was a common problem. Several authors comment on the fact that there was often powder scattered around the gun deck (despite the apparent danger) and with slow matches sitting around, people inevitably got burned due to carelessness. Add the fact the fire and fire-ships were considered wonderful weapons against wooden ships with sails and you have a lot of potential for burns. In fact, in the same part of the text, Rogers notes, "[Dec 26, 1710] Then we fell a-stern in our Birth along side, where the Enemy threw a Fire-ball out of one of her Tops, which lighting upon our Quarter-deck, blew up a Chest of Arms and Cartouch Boxes all loaded, and several Cartridges of Powder in the Steerage, by which mean Mr. Vanbrugh, our Agent, and a Dutchman were very much burnt; it might have done more Damage, had it not been quench'd as soon as possible." (Rogers, p. 161) "[Dec 26, 1710] ...we had aboard the Duke but eleven Men wounded, 3 of whom were scorch'd with Gun powder, I was again unfortunately wounded in the Left Foot with a Splinter just before we blew up on the Quarter-deck so that I could not stand, but lay on my Back in a great deal of Misery part of my Heel-bone being struck out, and all wider [while] my Ankle cut above half thro', which bled very much, and weaken'd me, before it could be dressed and stopt." (Rogers, p. 162) My reading suggest gun shot wounds were rarely fatal as the bullets were not as lethal or fast-moving as they are today. In fact, many of the people who died of bullet wound actually died from the resulting complications of a bullet wound - particularly infection.

I do recall that he was stuck in his cabin for weeks and was weak and in pain for the rest of the voyage. (There's a slightly extraordinary account of his being lifted out of the ship in his bed by some sort of rigging during a stop somewhere or another because he was too weak to disembark himself.) Rogers couldn't speak for a long time which sort of hampered his ability to control what was going on. Much against Roger's desire, they gave the captaincy of a captured ship to Physician Thomas Dover who had no sea experience but had provided a large amount of the start up capital for the voyage. I can't remember who he assigned to Dover, but there were two or three experienced seamen who basically made up for all of Dover's inexperience. I believe there are three accounts - two full ones: Rogers own, Cooke's and one partial - Lionel Wafer's. Wafer left the voyage in the Isthmus of Darien (Central America) when his knee was wounded by a flash burn caused by a careless seamen smoking while he was drying powder.

No, not really. There isn't much about the surgery in Roger's account that I recall. (I am in the middle of entering the relevant bits of his manuscript into my little surgeon's resource document (310 pages and counting) and haven't gotten to that part yet. It's been months since I actually read it, though. I will certainly appraise you of any info I find when I get to it again.) There is still Edward Cooke's account of the voyage to consider. I had not planned to read it myself, although I understand Cooke's account was more clinical and less colorful than Roger's. Still, Cooke was on the Dutchess and Rogers spent most of his time on the Duke, so he may not have seen the operation. I'd read it, but I am already swamped with other books I want to read. Just now I am (finally) starting Woodall. (Actually, for the third time. The Surgeon's Mate may be the purported preeminent period sea surgeon's book according to some people, but I find it a royal pain in the arse to read. The last two times, I found it to be worse than most period books for language, spelling & word usage by a goodish stretch. This may be because it is from the early 17th century as opposed to the late 17th or early 18th as most of the books I've been reading are. [And you've heard me whine about those if you've been paying attention.] My fellow surgical re-enactors who are dying to procure this know not for what they ask...)

Despite my excitement and interest, I must bail on this event. Apologies to one and all. (Dutch, we must meet and make up that interim saw somewheres else.) Duty calls. (On the plus side, Dupont has become a customer based on a product I designed and put on my squirrelly little company website (a page that I also designed - when you're a part owner you have to do a little bit off everything.). Anyhow...see those of you who will be at PiP at PiP.

Here's some interesting surgical stuff from eBay. This first one is a syphilitic syringe, used exclusively on the guys, which was inserted in...a very uncomfortable place. Like the frontseat of a Volkswagen. I think it will fetch over $100 or I'd post it after bidding. Geez. Look at the tip on the end of that thing....ouch. (Ladies, you just can't even begin to imagine...) I really want one of these to explain to the general public...oh the looks it would get...but they seem to be a bit pricey. It was used to inject Mercury. (Oh boy.) You can see more as long as the auction is up on eBay here. And this second is much easier to look upon for the male population. It's a pocket surgical kit, also currently on eBay here. Since I was just babbling about pocket kits in Twill, I thought this might be instructional. It's not from period - about 150 - 200 years too late based on the auction description (the clasp is a dead giveaway). However, I've been studying Woodall's sketch of the instruments from his 1639 edition of the Surgeon's Mate and these instruments may not actually be from period, but most of them were made roughly the same way and with the same materials. (Not the suction tube; that's dead wrong. The forceps and scissor tissue holders aren't really totally cricket either (although both existed during period), but you could probably get away with them.) It's a beautiful kit; better than I've seen elsewhere so far. My guess is that this will probably fetch about $200+. The auction gives splendid descriptions of the tools, so I am copying that here for reference. I numbered the tools and am matching them to the best of my so far acquired ability vis-a-vis period surgical devices. (If anyone spots a mistake, feel free to let me know. I'm forever learning.)

Wow! That's awesome... Oh, you me the wee one in the foreground? Very nice. I am building cabinets and having enough trouble with those; I can't imagine dealing with something with all those curves. (A common problem for me, to be sure.) I really like the hardware you used. How did you make that? *Edit - actually, upon reading Dutch's post and looking closer there appear to be few curves - it's all angles. However, this ruins the joke, so I stick to my original comment. To my engineering brain, angles would indeed seem to make it more susceptible to wobbliness in the water.

What does you suppose happens to a flying insect when it gets into your car at point 'A', gets trapped there, you drive said insect several, possibly dozens, of miles and s/he gets released at point 'B'? Does the insect get ripped from his/her home and become lost and despondent? Do insects become despondent? Do they even have the facility for despondence? Do they have homes, per se? Ants seem to. What about flies? Or are their mental capacities such that they just go blithely about their little random flying insect lives, never even realizing that they've been displaced? What if said insect is a parent, inasmuch as an insect can have familial ties? Do their offspring long for them? Do they want? Do they shrivel up and die? (In the case of mosquitoes, I hope so.) So many questions...there needs to be a large federal grant to study this. (This is presuming that there hasn't already been such a large federal grant for such an insipid question. No, don't tell me if there is, it'll just make me despondent. Presuming I have the capacity for despondence concerning insects in the federal government.)

By George, I think the doc is getting it... snigger.... And giving lurid talks about how surgery is done using periodish instruments seems to me to be enjoyable and entertaining. (I have a great grasp of goofiness. Ask the three people on this board who see that bit buried deeply in my psyche. )

Oh, I have images. Well, actually, the auction house that sold it has images. I should copy them before they decide to take them down and I now longer have such an awesome reference. I believe the majority of the saw is iron, but I'd be happy with anything that looked like the saw. It could have been made of brass... Here are the rest: In fact if anyone knows of someone who might be able to make this, let me know. It doesn't have to be quite this detailed, but I am permanently attached to the finials on the ends at the top. Nor do I care what it's made out of. I'll paint it if necessary. (But not if it's brass.)