I am well informed, that an officer distinguishes himself in nothing more than in preserving his men from wet and the other injuries of the weather. These were most essential points with this humane commander. In the torrid zone he shaded his people from the scorching sun by an awning over his deck, and in his course under the antarctic circle he had a coat provided for each man, of a substantial woollen stuff, with the addition of a hood for covering their heads. This garb (which the sailors called their Magellan jacket) they occasionally wore, and found it more comfortable for working in rain and snow, and among the broken ice in the high latitudes of the South.
Let us proceed to another article, one of the most material, the care to guard against putrefaction, by keeping clean the persons, the cloaths, bedding, and berths of the sailors. The Captain acquainted me, that regularly, one morning in the week, he passed his ship's company in review, and saw that every man had changed his linen, and was in other points as clean and neat as circumstances would permit. It is well known how much cleanliness is conducive to health, but it is not so obvious how much it also tends to good order and other virtues. That diligent officer was persuaded (nor was perhaps the observation new) that such men as he could induce to be more cleanly than they were disposed to be of themselves, became at the same time more sober, more orderly, and more attentive to their duty. It must be acknowledged that a seaman has but indifferent means to keep himself clean, had he the greatest inclination to do it; for I have not heard that commanders of ships have yet availed themselves of the _still_ for providing fresh water for washing; and it is well known that sea-water doth not mix with soap, and that linen wet with brine never thoroughly dries. But for Captain Cook, the frequent opportunities he had of taking in water among the islands of the South-Sea, enabled him in that tract to dispense to his ship's company some fresh water for every use; and when he navigated in the high latitudes of the Southern Oceans, he still more abundantly provided them with it, as you will find by the sequel of this discourse.