Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1851-11-06
Fran ne u. 3. Piiea,r |, r.ans. . ]. 3
~. pnaxue In the Canary I.Iands,

JuT I1dNdUd COii SPOuoOuhs NHNS-
date OF the 2d inst, says: 81 send
vou a statement Of a terrific epi-
demic, the plague,s at the Canary
Islands. They got il flshing on the
coast Of Africa, where the fishermen
report that the dead bodies were as
numerous as the sands Of tho sea-"
Il is feared thai the negro traders
will bring it to Havana. The fol-
lowing is our translation Of the
statement referred to:
The year 1851 opened under the
most favorable auspices for the Cana
~ Islands, their increase in commerce
and population being well known.
The fine arts also fOurished. But
the destiny which for a moment
seemed TO rest from the persecution
of theae Islands, which had dated
from the time when they took the
name of "The Unfortunate" again
fell upon them with more fury than
ever. Before IFS terrible anathema,
commerce was paralyzed, the thea
ters were closed, concentration Sci
zed every mind, the inhabitants hid
themselves or retired to the country,
and soon stupor, dneSS, d
almost despair, replaced the hours OF
felicity of those once happy people.
On the 9th June. 1851, The official
Journal Of the province contained
he following: "The Board OF
Health of the District OF Las Pal
mas, in the Canaries. has informed
the Superior of the Province, under
date Of the 5th inst, that in the
barriO Of San Jose, in the city of the
same name, some cases Of epidemic
cholera morbus have appeared" In
consequence Of this, precautionary
measures were ordered TO be taken.
For some months this infirmity
has been prevailing in the city Of
Palmas, displaying itself in isolated
cases, The faculty through igIo-
rance and malice. classed it as malig-
nant quincy. But the authorities,
ascertaining that many persons were
dying, that the sick survived but a
short time, and that the corpses
showed black spots and were horri-
bly, disfgured, ordered the Board OF
Health OF the Island, under the
strictest responsibility, TO declare the
nature Of the epidemic. Then, with
general terror, the announcement
we have alluded to was received.
History does not record anything
so sad as the spectacle which the
Island Of Grand Canary has presen-
ted, and still presents, The best
directed pen attempts in vain TO re-
late such misfortunes and horrors,
and words would not be sufficient
10 depict their intensity.
The epidemic now ragged with such
fury that the inhabitants, in conster-
nation, abandoned the town, without
caring for anything but their per-
sons, TO such an extent that they
even forgot the ties Of blood. Death
surprised them in the midst of their
flight, so that the roads were cover
ed with corpses, over which not a
tear OF friendship, or Of filial or ira
ternal love was shed, because terror
had smothered every sentiment ex-
cept that of selEpreservation. As
was TO be expected, the fugitives car
rying with them the fatal germ, in
fected the country. which became
the theater of the most horrible
scenes. ..,
The beasts, abandoned in the city,
perished for want of food, and the
decomposition of their bodies, to-
gether with that of the human
corpses which remained unburied in
the streets, vitiated the atmosphere
to such an extent that any unfortu-
nate person who might return to the
city fell dead almost as suon as he
entered a house. However, this
new cOnretempts was stopped as
soon as possible by the energetic
measures taken by the worthy Mill
tary Governor, and by the humanity
OF the second alcalde of the Corregi- |
dor, and various young men, many |
of whom fell victims to their hero |
ism.
At last the supposition was con-
frmed that the epidemic was not the
cholera, but the terrible plague of
the Moors, it having been ascer-
tanned that it was introduced into |
the Island Of Grand Canary bv the
fishing vessels which frequent the |
western coasts of Africa. The per-
sons in the Island devoted to this
traffic, numbering about l 800, have
almost all perished, as there remain
only enough to man single vessel.
According to the declarations of the
OF the said vessels, on all the
shores of Africa there reigns DEATH
ly pest which carries off The inhabi-
tants, the mortality being so great
that the corpses are strewe1 upon
the earth in Incredible numbers, and