Page 6 - Pharmacy History 03 Sept 1997

French and English explorers of
the West Australian coast and
their health
Lt. Commander Jim Howard RANR
This is a précis of some of the highlights of Jim’s paper which opened with a timeline depicting the exploration of Australia from 1600 to 1850.
The first European visitors were the Dutch who came to the Spice Islands to the north of Australia to trade. Many ships were lost on these ventures as the seas were largely uncharted and navigation instruments were unreliable and the discovery of how to measure longitude was still a long way off.
Exploration of Australia timeline
Dutch – Trading in Spice Islands
– Search for lost trade ships
– No ability to measure longitude - Poor timepieces
A comparison of two ships that came to Australia
1600 – 1700
1700 – 1750
French
English
English –
– Acquisition of land
Discovery / scientific
“Geographe”
“Endeavour”
Length
1750 – 1800
Breadth
Tonnage
English –
– Acquisition of land
Discovery / scientific Discovery / scientific
Discovery / scientific
124’
30’
13’3” fore 14’4” aft
97’ 7”
29’ 3”
368 tons
7’ 6”
13’6’ fore 13’10” aft
to 8 knots
Height between decks
French –
French –
Draft
1800 – 1850
Speed
Life aboard sailing ships that traversed the oceans of the world was very spartan and fraught with danger from the elements, the sea and its hazards, as well as the physical environment of being constantly wet and cold.
Heating below decks and in the officer’s cabins was achieved by heating cannon balls and half burying them in a sand bucket.
The greatest hazard on a wooden sailing ship was fire, and in rough weather it was impossible to have a fire in the galley stove to cook hot meals for the crew.
Ships had to carry coal or wooden logs as fuel for this very basic heating, and with stocks of tar for repairing the ship and its sails as well as gun powder for the armaments, these vessels were often floating time bombs.
6 Pharmacy History Australia
volume 5 no 36 FEBRUARY 2009