344 



THE CHOLERA. 



that it came down in vessels from Zanzibar : all 

 held it highly infectious, as indeed under the 

 circumstances it certainly was ; hands would not 

 ship on hoard our Batela, and at first no one 

 would even visit us. They declared the disease 

 to be dying out, yet the wealthier classes still 

 clung to their mashamba, where the water is 

 good and clean as it is filthy in the towns ; and 

 hysenas walked the streets at night. 



Accustomed to face cholera since my child- 

 hood, I never saw even in Italy, in India, or in 

 Sind, such ravages as it committed at Kilwa. 

 Soil and air seemed saturated with poison, the 

 blood appeared predisposed to receive the in- 

 fluence, and the people died like flies. Numbers 

 of patients were brought to us, each with the 

 ominous words, ' He has the death ; ' and none 

 hardly had energy to start or wince at what 

 would under other conditions have frightened 

 them out of their senses. They sometimes 

 walked two miles to see us ; the only evil 

 symptoms were dull congested eyes, cold breath, 

 and a thready feeble pulse, which in the worst 

 cases almost refused to beat. After the visit 

 they would return home on foot, lie down and 

 expire in a collapse, without cramp sor convul- 

 sions, emesis, or other eff'ort of nature to relieve 



