Lest I complain about air travel these days . . .

I travel a lot, and am apt to complain about the hassles of flying, airports, security lines, cancelled flights that require an extra night’s stay, often at my expense.

Please remind me, dear reader, of traveling in the 16th century when you hear me complain the next time.

Here is a travelogue written by Francis Xavier, the 16th-century Catholic missionary.

“The perils and hardships suffered on these expeditions are extensive and terrifying.  The first hardship is lack of accommodation.  True, the ships are large and powerful, but so packed with passengers, merchandise and provisions that there is little room left for anyone to move about, and the ordinary people aboard . . . must stand all day on deck in the blazing sun and sleep there somehow all night in the cold.

“On the other hand, the berths for the noble and wealthy are so low and narrow and confined that it is all a man can do to fit himself into them.

“The second hardship has to do with food and drink.  Though His Highness the King provides daily rations of biscuit, meat, fish, water and wine sufficient to keep the passengers alive, the meat and fish are so salty, and the provision of utensils so inadequate, that the suffering on these accounts, especially among the soldiers [who need more but get the same], beggars description.

“The third hardship for most is due to their being poor and happy-go-lucky.  They set out with insufficient clothing, the little they bring soon rots on their backs, and they suffer dreadfully in lower latitudes, both from the cold and from the stench of their rags.

“The fourth hardship is caused by the calms off the Guinea coast, which may last for 40, 50 or 60 days. During that time the passengers almost sweat their souls out and suffer torments from the heat beyond the power of my pen to set forth.

“The fifth hardship, and the worst of any, is the lack of water. During much of the voyage, the water doled out in the daily ration is so foul and smelly that it is impossible to bear the stench of it, and the passengers have to put a piece of cloth before their mouths to filter off the corruption.  This liquid is distributed only once a day, and many fail to get their portion through having no jugs in which to collect it.  Others drink their entire ration in one gulp, the result being that large numbers die of thirst.  

“The sixth hardship results from disease of every description among the passengers, who suffer a thousand miseries before dying or recovering.  The King appoints a surgeon to each ship, but he and his remedies soon cease to be of any use.”

When I can travel across the ocean in a matter of hours, while eating edible food and copious drink, and arrive with clothes and body that have not rotted, thanks be to God.