LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 27 



' Divesne prisco natus ab Inacho, 

 Nil interest, an pauper, et infima 

 De gente.' 



" Thousands died as though they had been seized with cholera, 

 others with black vomit, and others of decided yellow fever. There 

 were a few instances of some who departed this life with very little 

 pain or bad symptoms : they felt unwell, they went to bed, they 

 had an idea that they would not get better, and they expired in a 

 kind of slumber. It was sad in the extreme to see the bodies placed 

 in the streets at the close of day, to be ready for the dead-carts as 

 they passed along. 



* Plurima perque vias, sternuntur inertia passim 

 Corpora.' 



The dogs howled fearfully during the night. All was gloom and 

 horror in every street : and you might see the vultures on the strand 

 tugging at the bodies which were washed ashore by the eastern wind. 

 It was always said that 50,000 people left the city at the com- 

 mencement of the pestilence; and that 14,000 of those who re- 

 mained in it fell victims to the disease. 



" There was an intrigue going on at court, for the interest of cer- 

 tain powerful people, to keep the port of Malaga closed long after 

 the city had been declared free from the disorder ; so that none of 

 the vessels in the mole could obtain permission to depart for their 

 destination. 



" In the meantime the city was shaken with earthquakes ; shock 

 succeeding shock, till we all imagined that a catastrophe awaited us 

 similar to that which had taken place at Lisbon. The pestilence 

 killed you by degrees ; and its approaches were sufficiently slow, in 

 general, to enable you to submit to it with firmness and resignation. 

 But the idea of being swallowed up alive by the yawning earth at a 

 moment's notice, made you sick at heart, and rendered you almost 

 fearful of your own shadow. The first shock took place at six in the 

 evening, with a noise as though a thousand carriages had dashed 

 against each other. This terrified many people to such a degree, 

 that they paced all night long up and down the Alameda, or public 

 walk, rather than retire to their homes. I went to bed a little after 



