Hammock

The term “hammock” is not originally English, but a variation of the Spanish “hamaca”, which is at the same time borrowed from the Arawakan language of the Taino tribe on the Caribbean island of Haiti. Ever since the first Spanish colonisers encountered the hammock in the Caribbean, its fame and usage has spread widely. Only a few decades later, archeological findings suggest that hammocks were used by inmates in Australian prisons. Far from a form of punishment, hammocks were chosen as a space-efficient alternative to the standard mattress bed. For this same reason, the hammock was the usual method of getting sleep at sea for sailors. In the Royal Australian Navy, it was used until the 1970s, when was finally replaced by the between-deck bunks. The Naval Historical Society of Australia dedicates a heartfelt article to the disappearance of the hammocks from the ships: “The sailor and his hammock, a love story that deserves to be told”.