Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/323

 FOIi THE INVASION. 293 The number of those stricken, and of those at- chap. tending upon them, was so great, that it was L. impracticable to carry on the common duties of the ship in the usual way ; and if the disease had continued to rage with undiminished violence for three days more there would have been the spec- tacle of a majestic three-decker floating helpless upon the waves for want of hands to Mork her. This time of trial proved the qualit}^ of those who remained unstricken. There was a waywardness in the course of the disease on board British ships, for which it is difficult to account, — it spared the officers. On board British ships of war the sea- man is accustomed to look to those who command with a strong affectionate reliance ; and now the poor sufferers, in their childlike simplicity, were calling upon their officers for help and comfort. An officer thus appealed to would go and lie down by the side of the sufferer, and soothe him as though he were an infant. And this trust and this devotion were not always in vain. Even against malignant cholera the officer seemed to be not altogether powerless ; for, partly by holding the sufferer in his kind hands, partly by cheering words, and partly by wild remedies, in- vented in despair of all regular medical treat- ment, he was often enabled to fight the disease, or to make the men think that lie did. ■Tirgeon of the Britannia, and, as 1 personally know, a most able and excellent officer, the number was what I now state it. Out of the first 60 cases 55 died, and of these, 50 died withiu the first 20 hours.