I’ve always wondered this, whenever I consider the fact that most of the colonizers had probably never left their country, which though they can get warm probably not that warm (especially during the Little Ice Age), and then suddenly they land in moist, jungly, and scorching terrain—how difficult was the adjustment, and what, if any, coping mechanisms were there? As someone, of European descent who lives in a continental climate, who sweats really easy, this is always my first thought. I can’t imagine any European colonizer, whether it be in Mexico, the Caribbean, Brazil, or wherever, as anything but just sweating themselves into a puddle all the time, and just how gross they must have been, especially with all the clothes and armor. Was it something they just ‘toughed’ out, or did they actually have some way of dealing with it?
Sorry if this is a really broad question, but I can’t find a better way to put it. Thank you in advance!
Great question!
Here's a quick overview with a few examples:
Europeans conceptualized a link between climate and the body. It was thought that certain changes in climate could create imbalances in the humors (fluids in the body). This disequilibrium could cause illnesses or an alteration in mental and emotional states -- at least in their world view. Even from the early voyages of Columbus and the Spaniards, their letters and other writings often express how the heat, humidity, and "air" was taking a toll on their bodies, which were not accustomed to the climate. One way to help restore health was to eat more "European" food such as bread, wine, and pork rather than corn and other foods native to the Americas. (see Body of the Conquistador by Rebecca Earle).
Subsequent European colonizers in other tropical regions (such as SE Asia and India) utilized other means, specifically hill stations. These stations, as the name suggests, were built in higher, cooler elevations. European colonizers retreated to these areas to "restore health," get much needed R&R, and avoid the "diseased" towns and villages of the colonized. But, these areas weren't simply to chill out. The building of hill stations was closely tied to European understandings of climate, body, and spaces. In their world view, the European body was not meant endure the beating sun and humidity. By escaping to these hill stations, equilibrium could be brought back to their bodies.
When the British colonized areas in Africa (specifically Sierra Leone in the nineteenth century), the military higher ups knew that their troops were dying of diseases at a very high rate. They often blamed "the fever laden swamps" and "bad airs" of the region to which their European bodies were not accustomed. Hence, they often called Africa, "the White Man's Grave" (see Philip Curtin). So, what did they do? With the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in the early 19th century, the British began using troops from the West India Regiment (former slaves from the West Indies). Since these men were of African descent, the British believed they would fair better in African climate and help them with the colonizing process in Africa. Thus, by the nineteenth century, we see a close link between scientific racism and understandings of climate and disease in the colonization of Africa.
My research specialization: history of epidemic diseases/medicine and sciences (16th century)