{"id":"01KG8AMDK60TC64FK8SGJTGRR2","cid":"bafkreieidddot2og7aalc2zk7cjkymoqils7af5m463jt66m5h3g2b2e7q","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":12523,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.278Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":12462,"text":"CHAPTER LXXVII.\r\nTHE HOSPITAL IN A MAN-OF-WAR.\r\n\r\n\r\nAfter running with a fine steady breeze up to the Line, it fell calm,\r\nand there we lay, three days enchanted on the sea. We were a most\r\npuissant man-of-war, no doubt, with our five hundred men, Commodore and\r\nCaptain, backed by our long batteries of thirty-two and twenty-four\r\npounders; yet, for all that, there we lay rocking, helpless as an\r\ninfant in the cradle. Had it only been a gale instead of a calm, gladly\r\nwould we have charged upon it with our gallant bowsprit, as with a\r\nstout lance in rest; but, as with man-kind, this serene, passive\r\nfoe—unresisting and irresistible—lived it out, unconquered to the last.\r\n\r\nAll these three days the heat was excessive; the sun drew the tar from\r\nthe seams of the ship; the awnings were spread fore and aft; the decks\r\nwere kept constantly sprinkled with water. It was during this period\r\nthat a sad event occurred, though not an unusual one on shipboard. But\r\nin order to prepare for its narration, some account of a part of the\r\nship called the “_sick-bay_” must needs be presented.\r\n\r\nThe “_sick-bay_” is that part of a man-of-war where the invalid seamen\r\nare placed; in many respects it answers to a public hospital ashore. As\r\nwith most frigates, the sick-bay of the Neversink was on the\r\nberth-deck—the third deck from above. It was in the extreme forward\r\npart of that deck, embracing the triangular area in the bows of the\r\nship. It was, therefore, a subterranean vault, into which scarce a ray\r\nof heaven’s glad light ever penetrated, even at noon.\r\n\r\nIn a sea-going frigate that has all her armament and stores on board,\r\nthe floor of the berth-deck is partly below the surface of the water.\r\nBut in a smooth harbour, some circulation of air is maintained by\r\nopening large auger-holes in the upper portion of the sides, called\r\n“air-ports,” not much above the water level. Before going to sea,\r\nhowever, these air-ports must be closed, caulked, and the seams\r\nhermetically sealed with pitch. These places for ventilation being\r\nshut, the sick-bay is entirely barred against the free, natural\r\nadmission of fresh air. In the Neversink a few lungsful were forced\r\ndown by artificial means. But as the ordinary _wind-sail_ was the only\r\nmethod adopted, the quantity of fresh air sent down was regulated by\r\nthe force of the wind. In a calm there was none to be had, while in a\r\nsevere gale the wind-sail had to be hauled up, on account of the\r\nviolent draught flowing full upon the cots of the sick. An open-work\r\npartition divided our sick-bay from the rest of the deck, where the\r\nhammocks of the watch were slung; it, therefore, was exposed to all the\r\nuproar that ensued upon the watches being relieved.\r\n\r\nAn official, called the surgeon’s steward, assisted by subordinates,\r\npresided over the place. He was the same individual alluded to as\r\nofficiating at the amputation of the top-man. He was always to be found\r\nat his post, by night and by day.\r\n\r\nThis surgeon’s steward deserves a description. He was a small, pale,\r\nhollow-eyed young man, with that peculiar Lazarus-like expression so\r\noften noticed in hospital attendants. Seldom or never did you see him\r\non deck, and when he _did_ emerge into the light of the sun, it was\r\nwith an abashed look, and an uneasy, winking eye. The sun was not made\r\nfor _him_. His nervous organization was confounded by the sight of the\r\nrobust old sea-dogs on the forecastle and the general tumult of the\r\nspar-deck, and he mostly buried himself below in an atmosphere which\r\nlong habit had made congenial.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AKWJQFGKKZ5KFZQKDNTQ3","peer_type":"section","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMDK9QSZ94RTT3KYP59GG","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.454Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:53.376Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}