276 HISTORY OF 



irretrievably gone. In our more fortunate expe- 

 dition which gave us the Havannah, we had little 

 reason to boast of our success ; instead of a third, 

 not a fifth part of the army were left survivors of 

 their victory, the climate being an enemy that 

 even heroes cannot conquer. : v 



The distempers that thus proceed from the cruel 

 malignity of those climates are many; that, for in- 

 stance, called the Chapotonadas, carries off a mul- 

 titude of people, and extremely thins the crews 

 of European ships, whom gain tempts into those 

 inhospitable regions. The nature of this distem- 

 per is but little known, being caused in some 

 persons by cold, in others by indigestion. But its 

 effects are far from being obscure ; it is generally 

 fatal in three or four days : upon its seizing the 

 patient, it brings on what is there called the black 

 vomit, which is the sad symptom after which none 

 are ever found to recover. Some, when the vomit 

 attacks them, are seized with a delirium, that, 

 were they not tied down, they would tear them- 

 selves to pieces, and thus expire in the midst of 

 this furious paroxysm. This disorder, in milder 

 climates, takes the name of the bilious fever, and 

 is attended with milder symptoms, but very dan- 

 gerous in all. 



There are many other disorders incident to the 

 human body, that seem the offspring of heat ; but 

 to mention no other, that very lassitude which pre- 

 vails in all the tropical climates, may be consider- 

 ed as a disease. The inhabitants of India, * says 



* Linn. Amoen. vol. v. p. 444. 



