On Fri, 13 Jun 2003 18:27:06 +0200, Eva Hedin <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
snip
 who kept his crew free of scurvy by sauerkraut,
>> while
>> later english sailors died of it.
>
> Perhaps the poor English sailors only got sauerkraut. One would not
> survive
> the tough life on a boat on that alone.
>
snip
> Eva

I wrote that wrongly; it should have been: "who kept his crew free of
scurvy by feeding them sauerkraut"

After Magellan, they got salted meat and ships biscuits. The only fresh
meat was the worms in the biscuits.
The meat was so hard it was sometimes dragged in the water to soften it.
And a cup of grog to make life bearable (splicing the mainbrace).

William