14 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 



was declared to be in a state of pestilence. Some 

 affirmed that the disorder had come from the 

 Levant ; others said that it had been imported from 

 the Havafnna ; but I think it probable that nobody 

 could tell in what quarter it had originated. 



'*We had now all retired to the country-house 

 — my eldest uncle returning to Malaga from time 

 to time, according as the pressure of business de- 

 manded his presence in the city. He left us one 

 Sunday evening, and said he would be back again 

 some time on Monday; but that was my poor 

 uncle's last day's ride. On arriving at his house 

 in Malaga, there was a messenger waiting to in- 

 form him that Father Bustamante had fallen sick, 

 and wished to see him. Father Bustamante was 

 an aged priest, who had been particularly kind to 

 my uncle on his first arrival in Malaga. My uncle 

 went immediately to Father Bustamante, gave 

 him every consolation in his power, and then re- 

 turned to his own house very unwell, there to die 

 a martyr to his charity. Father Bustamante 

 breathed his last before daylight; my uncle took 

 to his bed, and never rose more. As soon as we 

 had received information of his sickness, I im- 

 mediately set out on foot for the city. His friend, 

 Mr. Power, now of Gibraltar, was already in his 

 room, doing everything that friendship could sug- 

 gest or prudence dictate. My uncle's athletic 

 constitution bore up against the disease much 

 longer than we thought it possible. He struggled 

 with it for five days, and sank at last about the 

 hour of sunset. He stood six feet four inches 

 high; and was of so kind and generous a dispo- 

 sition, that he was beloved by all who knew him. 



