Conditions on Early Ocean Voyages
Sea Monsters, Bad Food, Scurvy, Rats and Floggings
Life for the common seaman aboard the Columbus voyages of discovery was fraught with peril and hardship, both real and imagined.
Sailing across the open sea during the late Middle Ages and later was difficult even under the best of circumstances. Ships were small, relatively fragile things easily dashed to pieces against a reef in a storm.
The Niña and the Pinta, for example, used on Columbus' first voyage, stretched no more than 70 to 80 feet, while the Santa María, though heavier, was not much longer than her sisters.
The further from Europe that Columbus sailed on his first voyage, the closer his panicking crew came to mutiny. Preying on their minds was the age-old belief of sailors that they would eventually sail off the edge of the world, something that would not worry those on subsequent voyages. Columbus even went so far as to falsify the log so that his crew would not learn how far they had really sailed, in the fear that the knowledge would send them over the edge -- no pun intended.
Perhaps when the look-out cried "Land, ho!" on that first voyage, the crew would have been no less surprised had he shouted "Edge of the Earth, ho!"
Sailors of that day also feared attacks by sea serpents that could swallow ships whole, whirlpools from which there would be no return and, a far more earthly and likely threat, running out of water and food before land could be reached. In fact, had there been no New World on the way to the East, which was Columbus' original objective, his crew would probably have run out of provisions before reaching their destination, the distance of the East being far greater than had been estimated by Columbus.
And, in the mind of the sailor, if ever land was reached there would be the ever-prevalent threat from blood-thirsty cannibals. In fact, this proved to be a highly exaggerated threat. Columbus and others would later use the label of cannibalism as a convenient excuse to attack and enslave largely peaceful natives.
One of the contributors to Columbus' death in 1506 was the years of poor food eaten while on board ship, as well as the various illnesses he suffered while sailing.
Provisions such as meat were normally stored in wooden casks with brine to preserve the meat, but the brine --as well as wine, water and other liquids from other casks -- would often leak out and come into contact with dry provisions, ruining them.
There were two meals a day served to the crew out of a large shared bowl. Bits of meat, for example, would be plucked out by probing fingers, as there were no eating utensils available. Though prayers were said before every meal, it is highly doubtful that any pair of hands, including the cook's, knew the luxury of a pre-meal hand-washing.
Familiar foods to the seamen included salted pork and beef, olives, chickpeas, beans, rice, lentils, olive oil, almonds, cheese and salted sardines and cod in addition to fresh fish caught along the way. To drink, there was wine and water -- which would usually go bad and become undrinkable by voyage's end.
Biscuits --often infested with weevils -- were also a common staple food for seamen. These were very hard, so they were often dipped in soup or water to soften them before eating.
There were no sleeping quarters for the crew, so the crew would lie down and bed for the night in whatever space was available-- usually the hold. However, over time the stench of rotting food and excrement would prompt the crew to sleep on deck in the open air, where they would be subjected to winds and lashing rains and waves, against which they would tie themselves down to avoid being swept overboard.
Scurvy (caused by lack of vitamin C and, as it turned out, highly curable) and other diseases would take their toll on crews. The committing of crimes or insubordination were dealt with harshly. Common means of punishment included flogging or keelhauling, which entailed being dragged under and across the bottom of the ship by ropes.
Lice, parasites, vermin scuttling at the feet and a permanently unwashed state among the crew was the order of the day and added to the general misery of one and all.
On the whole, the life of an early Spanish voyager was a hard one, and death stalked -- or perhaps sailed in the water alongside -- close at hand, but the death rate of the explorers paled in comparison to the death rate of enslaved natives exported by ship back to Spain. Far more than half would be dead or dying by the time the ship carrying them would dock in a Spanish port.
