EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF CONQUEST AND COLONISATION Log Book Entry
Imagine that you were a sailor on one of these early voyages of exploration. Write a log book entry describing life on board the ship.
Your log book entry should be creative but also include historical details, e.g. I didn’t feel well today; my gums have started bleeding and one tooth has even started to wobble. My hair has started to curl and crack off. We ran out of fresh fruit and vegetables last week and have been eating dry biscuits since.
Remember to include the following: ● ● Where are you going? ● ● Who is the captain? ● ● What year is it? ● ● What is the food like? ● ● What are the living conditions like? ● ● What is the work like?
Facts that might help you:
●● Sailors worked in shifts around the clock ●● Beatings were common, and mutineers were put to death
● ● Pay was poor ●● Sailors ate flour mixed with fat and hard biscuits infested with bugs. They drank wine and beer
●● You had to be 16 to become a sailor but some younger boys sneaked on board to work
● ● Journeys could take years ● ● Scurvy was common – up to half of a crew could die from it
● ● Typhoid was common ●● Lice and rodents were everywhere ●● Sailors only had one set of clothes – they let the grease and dirt build up on them to act as insulation from the wind, rain and cold