xxxiv 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 



^' El hombre pone, y Dies dispone." Many a bright 

 and glorious morning ends in a gloomy setting 

 sun. 



There began to be reports spread up and down 

 the city that the black vomit had made its appear- 

 ance ; and every succeeding day brought testimony 

 that things were not as they ought to be. I my- 

 self, in an alley near my uncles' house, saw a mattress 

 of most suspicious appearance hung out to dry. A 

 Maltese captain, who had dined with us in good 

 health at one o'clock, lay dead in his cabin before 

 sunrise the next morning. A few days after this 

 I was seized with vomiting and fever during the 

 night. I had the most dreadful spasms, and it was 

 supposed that I could not last out till noon the next 

 day. However, strength of constitution got me 

 through it. In three weeks more, multitudes were 

 seen to leave the city, which shortly after was de- 

 clared 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 Havanna; 

 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 demanded 

 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 inform him that 

 Father Bustamante had fallen sick, and wished to 



