Retitled 'The Great Tasmania's Cargo' in collected editions of the series
The London, Chatham & Dover railway, formed in 1859, had its terminus at London Bridge; there were barracks at Chatham. Dickens used this line frequently in the 1860s, boarding at Higham for journeys from Gadshill to both London and the south-east coast. Between 19 and 22 March 1860, an inquest was held at the Crown Court, St. George's Hall, Liverpool, into the deaths of British soldiers discharged from active service in India, who had fallen ill on the transport ship Great Tasmania during the voyage home. The majority were soldiers who 'refusing to be transferred from the service of the East India company to that of Her Majesty, without receiving the usual bounty given to recruits, were discharged and ordered to be sent home' (The Times, 20 March, p. 12, col. b). The ship had set out from Calcutta in November 1859, and had reached anchorage in the Mersey on the morning of 15 March, with doctors reporting 'two deaths and about 60 bad cases of scurvy' (The Times, ibid.) but according to India Office records signed by Captain Alexander Pond, by the 23rd of the month, there had been no less than 62 casualties (L/MIL/10/320, p. 39). During the intervening period, the sick had been removed to the Liverpool Workhouse, and given every medical attention. Over one in thirteen of the 971 passengers who made the journey, thus failed to survive it.
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