WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 15 



Many a Spanish tear flowed when it was known 

 that he had ceased to be. We got him a kind of 

 coffin made, in which he was conveyed at midnight 

 to the outskirts of the town, there to be put into 

 one of the pits which the galley-slaves had dug 

 during the day for the reception of the dead. But 

 they could not spare room for the coffin; so the 

 body was taken out of it, and thrown upon the 

 heap which already occupied the pit. A Spanish 

 marquis lay just below him. 



** 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 f©r 

 the dead-carts as they passed along. 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 

 commencement of the pestilence ; and that 14,000 

 of those who remained in it fell victims to the 

 disease. 



^' There was an intrigue going on at court, for 

 the interest of certain 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. 



