162 07i Malaria. 



been so often' renewed since the time of Caesar, to conduct it 

 through the Pontine marshes, and so to remove it to a distance. 

 The opinion has now become prevalent, that the best remedy 

 for the evil is the growth of plants. 



Whether the Pontine marshes had their origin after the time 

 of Tarquinius Superbus, by the sinking of the land and destruc- 

 tion of the twenty-three towns caused by an earthquake, is of 

 no consequence for our purpose. The attempts at improvement 

 made by Appius Claudius, Julius Caesar, Augustus, and Trajan, 

 afford no important facts. When Decius, under the Gothic 

 viceroy Theodoric, undertook the draining, many workmen be- 

 came ill and died, so that it was found necessary to give up the 

 work several times. The same happened under Pius the Fifth, 

 in 1585. 



When, in the midst of the difficulties which oppressed his 

 territories, Pius the Sixth began the work with the greatest 

 vigour, new epidemic disorders broke out amongst the labourers. 

 Many died speedily, and others recovered as rapidly. A large 

 part of the district was drained, and in this respect there was 

 cause for triumph. Pius founded there a considerable colony, 

 with a parish church and a capuchin monastery. Of these marsh 

 diseases, no further trace shewed itself ; biit, on the other hand, 

 the real malaria appeared when the ground was thoroughly 

 drained. Many of the colonists and capuchins gradually be- 

 came pale, almost lost the power of speech, acquired a corpse- 

 like aspect, and at length died. Thus the whole colony was in 

 a short period destroyed. The handsome church has been con- 

 verted into the hay magazine of the present post-house. When 

 the crops are cut, the proprietor of the post-house and his family 

 remove to a more healthy situation ; and, paying high wages, 

 give the establishment in charge to their servants, of whom some 

 always fall a sacrifice to the malaria. I saw two such individuals ; 

 I took the cook with me in my carriage to Rome, where he found 

 aid in the hospital. He had not been at all aware that the dis- 

 ease had seized him, and remained nearly two years in service, 

 until his voice became as weak as that of a child, and he was 

 seized with a cough, accompanied by symptoms of great debi- 

 lity, under which in all probability he sunk. On the other 

 hand, several houses stand in the middle of the marsh ; and I 



