* * * I
had found Mr. Robert Carver, our Gunner while on board the Chance,
sick in one of the bunks where those retired who wished to be
removed. He was without a bed or pillow, and had put on all the
wearing apparel which he possessed, wishing to preserve it, and being
sensible of his situation. I found him sitting upright in the bunk,
with his great-coat on over the rest of his garments, and his hat
between his knees. The weather was excessively hot, and, in the place
where he lay, the heat was overpowering. I at once saw that he was
delirious, a sure presage that the end was near. I took off his
great-coat, and having folded and placed it under his head for a
pillow, I laid him upon it, and went immediately to prepare him some
tea. I was absent but a few minutes, and, on returning, met one of the
thievish Nurses with Carver's great-coat in his hand. On ordering him
to return it his reply was that it was a perquisite of the Nurses, and
the only one they had; that the man was dying, and the great-coat
could be of no further use to him. I however, took possession of the
coat, and on my liberation, returned it to the family of the owner. Mr
Carver soon after expired where he lay. We procured a blanket in which
to wrap his body, which was thus prepared for interment. Others of
the crew of the Chance had died before that time. Mr Carver was a man
of strong and robust constitution.
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