The ships chosen for expeditions to the Pacific Northwest were often converted from war and trading vessels. They were sometimes equipped with small cabins for the officers and the captain, but the crew was crowded together. In cold climates, they spent their time among coiled ropes, sacs, and barrels of provisions. Some would take advantage of warmer weather to sleep on deck. The hammock, adapted from South American models, was a length of canvas suspended from hooks on the wall in which sailors slept, centimetres apart, with less than half a metre for each man to swing with the rocking of the ship. Food was served in the galley or kitchen, where a stove and gargantuan metal pots simmered with porridge, fat drippings, and soups. Meals were taken to the “mess,” the general-use room on the lower decks (which was often the gun deck with tables on hinges) where sailors sat to eat.
The areas of the vessel beneath sea level were watertight, meaning air could not circulate and ventilation was a problem. Breathing men quickly used up oxygen, and dangerous gases like carbon monoxide took its place. Sailors suffocated and died due to lack of oxygen while sleeping. One of the jobs of the ship’s doctor sailing with Malaspina was to test the air quality below deck. English ships were fitted with bellows to circulate fresh air to the lower decks. In the Regulations Relating to His Majesty’s Service at Sea, an article was added in 1756 that stated, “His Majesty’s ships are ordered to be furnished with ventilators … to be made use of at least one half hour in every watch” to “keep the ships free from foul air”.
Sailors generally did not have many possessions beyond what they could stuff into a bag. Several bags were then stored in sea chests so that loose objects were not left to roll around in the moving vessel. Captains and officers kept chests in their cabins to store their weapons, clothing, and personal items. When trade became an official objective of American expeditions to the Pacific Northwest and China, space was allotted in the “hold,” the storage areas in the hull of the ship, for the captain and mates to stock between ½ and 5 tonnes of personal trade goods as part of their wage privileges. The hold was also used to keep food, sails, and general supplies.
