Star.
London, England, 1825-05-21 00:00:00

THE PLAGUE.

-The following at: extracts from the Official Report
ofithe Fever which appeared on board his Majesty's
s' ip Bann, on the coast of Africa, anal amongst the
Detachment of Royal Marines, in he Island of Ascen-
,io:l, in 1823, to which we alluded in our leading arti-
cle of yesterday. It is written by Dr. Burnett, one of
the Commissioners of the Medical Department of his

Majesty's Navy :
. His Majesty's slonp Bann anchoted off Free Town,
Sierra Leone, on the I lth J'anuary, 1823, and con-
tinued there until the 25th of March, her ship's com-
pany on board being in excellent health. On this day,
one case of fever, having severe inflammatory symp-
tom's, was put on the sick list, and the patient died on
the 30th, the fifth day of his illness. On the 26th, the
master and two seamen wet:: attacked in the same man-
ner, and recovered. On the '27th, the Bann sailed froyn
Sierra Leone; but previous to her doing so (on the
19th of March) she had sent her pinnace to assist in
'ringing to the anchorage the-Caroline, a vessel which,
having been loaded with timber in a very swampy si-
tuation, about thirty miles up the river of Sierra Leone,
had lost by a fever, which, at its commencement, and,
for many weeks afterwards, was the usual remittent
fever of the country, at least fifteen of her crew. This
ship had moved down the river from Free Town toCape
Sierra Leone, on the 13th of March, a distance of six
or seven "miles, to be ready to_ sail for England, before
the Bann boarded her, but was obliged to return, being
very leaky. Between this time and the 31st of March,
three more cases occurred on board the Bann. On the
31st, one case of the same kind was added to the list;
and on the 3d of April, four more of her people were
seized with the same complaint.
From this time the sick list rapidly increased,
and, according to the account of Captain Phillips, be-
ginning forward in the ship, came gradually. to the
after partetill nearly all the officers and men were at-
tacked; indeed, when it ceased at Ascension, only about
sixteen had escaped of the whole of the officers and
ship's company. The total number attacked was ninety-
nine, of whom thirty.four died, fifteen before the Bann
reached Ascension. It is stated by the surgeon, that atl
the time of sailing from Sierra Leone, the weather was
leery hot and sultry, and subseqirently became cloudy
with occasional heavy showers of rain, accompanied by
thunder and lightning, indicating the approach of the
tornado season. The thermometer stood at about 78 to
80 degrees daring the day,becoming about two degrees
lower than usual in the night; but from the dampness of
the air, the impression of cold on the feelingrwas greater
than that which was indicated by the mercury, and pro-
duced a sensation of chill in the night. The ship was
ordered to St. Thomas's, but from the unhealthy state
of the crew, and the bad .heather, it was deemed ad-
'Amble to proceed directly to the Island of Ascension ;
and on her arrival at that place on the 25th of April,
tents were immediately erected on shore at the distance
of nearly five hundred yards from the garrison, with
which all intercourse was interdicted, and the whole of
the sick, amounting to forty-five, labouring under the
prevailing fever, were landed, and placed in the tents
provided for them.
' In this voyage to Ascension, the Bann was accom-
panied by a Spanish schooner, named the San Raphael,
which she had detained off iThydabb, in September,
1822, having on board, one hundred and fifty slaves,
and which arrived in the river of Sierra Leone in De-
cember following. During the interval, Captain Phil-
lips had, at different times, put into this vessel a com-,
missioned officer, two midshipmen, an assistant sur-
geon, and twenty men, all of whom returned per•
let tly well.
The schooner, while lying off Free Town, was an.
chimed very close to the Caroline, a timber ship, after
that vessel, from becoming leaky, returned to be re-
paired. The schooner was sent up to Benn's Island, in
the river Sierra Leone, about thirty miles above Free
Town, to have her bottom repaired, but no sickness
took place in consequence: and while the Bann lay in
the river, the schooner was sent, with a Lieutenant and
forty men, to reconnoitre the Galinas, and was absent
on this service about a • fortnight, during which time
four of her then suffered severe attacks of fever ; none,
however, died, and they returned generally in good
health or convalescent; and it was after this cruise
she anchored near the Caroline, and, consequently, be-
fore the fever appeared in the Bann.
The fever, according to the testimony of the sur-
geon, made its appearance first on board this schooner;
and this vessel suffered more in proportion to the num-
ber of her crew than the Bann, fifteen being at dif-
ferent times attacked on board of her ; indeed, Captain
Phillips states, that every person on board, excepting
Mr. Crockat, the second master, and the Portuguese
Pot, was taken ill, and removed to the Bann, andl
that the number taken ill on board of the schooner in
the early part of the disease was so great, that at one
time he was determined to destroy her but that, on fur-
ther consideration, he decided on taking all the Euro-1
peans out of her, excepting the second master, pilot,l
and two seamen, sending a proportionate number ofl
blacks to assist in navigating her, and. after he had
so done no sickness prevailed.
The Island of Ascension was first occupied as a gar-
rison in the year 1815, on the exile of Napoleon Bona-
parte to St. Helena. It has been - said that this island
was always particularly healthy, previous to the ap-
pearance of the fever which followed the Bann's visit to
it in 1823. This statement is evidently erroneous, for I
find, on reference to the journals of the medical officers,
who at different times had charge of the garrison be-
fore the appearance of the late epidemic, an abstract
of which is in the Appendix, that not only has dysen.
tery and hepatitis been very prevalent, as well as occa-
sio Al attacks cf fever, but likewise that a fever, called
the bilious remittent, in the year 1818, attacked
every man on the island,which the assistant surgeon attri-
butes to an unusually wet turtle season, when the men
are much exposed, by watching at night to win those
animals. Moreover, there is in the journal of Mr.
Robert Malcolm, tor 1818, a case of t'is disea e, which
commenced on the Ist of Jai e, and terminated by
death the next day, with all the symptoms of yellow
suffusion_ and black vornitratc. which are said peculiarly
to characterize the yellow fever ; and having hewn
this case to the surgeon of the Bann, tow in London,
he declares it to he exactly similar to the cases o:

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