VOYAGE TO MADAGASCAR* Z§t 



to difeafe in the courfe of a very fliort 

 time. If I beheld this calamity without 

 fharing the fate of the reft, it was becaufe 

 the falubrioos fea air, with which our veflel 

 was furroiinded, correded, in fome degree, 

 the fatal efFedls of the putrid exhalations* 

 Be fides, as foon as the firfl fymptoms of the 

 difeafe appeared in the village, all commu- 

 nication with the land, except what was 

 indifpenfabJy necefFary, was rigoroufly for- 

 bidden* The crew were no longer allowed 

 to have any intercourfe with the iflanders ; 

 nor were their piroguas fuffered to approach 

 our veflel. Without this precaution the 

 infection might have been introduced into 

 the fliip J and no means could have been 

 devifed to check its progrefs. Thofe who 

 intend to frequent this dangerous coaft 

 ought not to defpife thefe obfervationa, 

 the juftnefs of which is confirmed by a 

 miihitude of examples. In a word, one 



U 2 muft 



