

IN QUARANTINE. 127 



plague was in every house of the town where there still 

 were any inhabitants. The refugees of Ramie, who 

 carne to Jaffa to place themselves under our protection, 

 perished nearly to a man. The Convent of the Capu- 

 chins, which was placed in quarantine, could not escape 

 the contagion : the greater part of the monks died. All 

 the Frank families perished except two men and one 

 woman. 



" I no longer knew a single individual among those 



<^ ^3 *--' 



now at Jaffa. I had lost successively my friends, my 

 acquaintance, and my servants ; there only remained my 

 French servant, who attended me with constancy during 

 my illness, and he died at my side the 24th Germinal.* 

 I was now alone, without strength, without help, without 

 friends ; I was so exhausted by the dysentery and the 

 continual suppurations, that my head became extraordi- 

 narily weakened ; the fever, which redoubled its inten- 

 sity at night, often made me delirious and agitated me 

 terribly. Two men of the corps of sappers undertook 

 the care of me, and they perished one after the other. 



" At length on the 2d Floreal f I was put on board 

 L'Etoile, which was setting sail for Egypt and whose 

 captain had the plague ; he died the night of our arrival 

 at Damietta. The sea air produced a sudden effect on 

 me ; it seemed to me as if I were relieved from suffo- 

 cation. After the first day I almost began to feel some 

 wish for food, I was nevertheless very feeble. Contrary 

 winds kept us several days out at sea ; this delay pro- 

 duced a very marked amendment in my health ; my 

 strength revived, the crust of the bubo fell off ; my appe- 

 tite was restored. 



" On the 7th Floreal i we came to anchor before the 



* April 12, 1799. t April 21. J April 26. 



