In consequence of this the crew was transferred to the lazaretto on the next day, and the ship placed in charge of the proper officers. In the mean time the captain and one of the crew died, and no doubt remained of the nature of the disorder. The ship was therefore sent back to Alexandria, but in vain. By this time the contagion had found its way into the town, destroying some persons ; and on the 3d of May it was declared to be in great clan ger, by a report of the Committee of Health. The alarm immediately caused the people to leave their houses, and many embarked ; but, on the following day, strict regu lations were put in force. Notwithstanding these it con tinued spreading slowly till the 19th, and after that much more rapidly, not having been finally extirpated till the 7th of January in the capital, and remaining till March in the village of Curmi. It was also communicated to Gozza.
During the whole progress of this attack, the contagious nature of the disorder was manifested by every circum stance which occurred; with regard either to its spread ing, or its diminution and final extinction. It did not spread from one house to its neighbour, merely from vi cinity, but was traced to distant houses through relations and friends. All the early cases were, therefore, dis persed through various parts of the town, and its pro gress was irregular and sraggling. In the country it was the same ; and, in almost every instance, the cases could be traced to communication with the capital. It was much hastened and aggravated by a false confidence in the people, that it must subside as the summer advanced. Its eradication was equally the consequence of the adop tion of more vigorous measures, viz. proper classification and absolute separation of the healthy, the sick, and the suspected. It was owing to the opposition which many of the inhabitants had shown to these measures that its progress was so destructive ; and this was particularly proved by its protracted residence in the village of Curmi. When once it had become confined within walls, all far ther danger ceased. Jt was farther one of the leading causes of the great progress of this attack, that the people could not for a long time be induced to believe in its na ture, while their incredulity was supported by the disse mination of documents in support of that opinion.
It is remarkable also, in this case, that, though Gozza, owing to the strictness of its regulations, was free from the plague during its progress in Malta, it appeared there af ter it had been overcome in the latter island. Its intro
duction was clearly traced to a box of clothes brought from Malta after the restrictions had ceased. The dis ease, in this case, was speedily arrested by the rigid en forcement of precautionary measures, only ninety-six al together having died of it. This history of success offers a strong evidence in favour of the contagious nature of the plague, as does the former, where the precautions were for so long a time ineffectual.
In Albania, in the same year, the same results took place. The introduction was traced to an inhabitant who brought it from Romelia ; and the progress was similar, as were the effects of the cautions adopted.
Now it is very important to remark, in this instance, that the Mahometans themselves became sensible of the value of these precautions, and profited by them. These principles are indeed speedily gaining ground in many other parts of the Turkish empire, and more particularly in those which are less connected with Constantinople, and which have the most direct commercial intercourse with the Christian nations. Tripoli has been long secured from the disease by the exertions of the present Pacha, assisted by medical persons from Europe. It is not many years since it appeared in the arsenal of that city, but was stopped by the exertions of an English physician. That these more enlightened views of the subject are still spreading, is as probable as it is desirable.
NVe may add to these instances its recent appearance at Corfu and Cephalonia. It appeared first at Marathia, in the former island, in December, 1815 ; and was traced to the introduction of some infected goods from Albania. This attack was quelled with some difficulty by the active interference of the British government, and in the usual manner. In Cephalonia it was also introduced from Al bania in some clothes taken from two Turks who had died of the disease.
It is a strong confirmation of the contagion of the plague, that the troops employed on all those occasions as guards, continued healthy. Had it been an epidemic merely, that could not have been the case, as they were in the very fo cus of the disorder. In such cases as the epidemic re mittent, new corners suffer, while the natives comparatively escape ; the very reverse of which was the case here. This happened remarkably enough at Argostoli ; that fe ver breaking out about the same time as the plague and destroying many soldiers while the inhabitants escaped.