Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1872-04-29
A HORRIBLE STORY FROM THE
SOUTHERN OCEAN.

bourne letter has startling account of /
the pestilence on the Southern Ocean
and of the terrible ravages of swarms of
small pox flies. The correspondent writes
ON lst ult:
One day last week arrived here ship
Althea, which during the past three
years has been cruising in the Atlantic,
Pacific, Southern and Indian Oceans.
She is owned in Australia by Allen &
Brothers, by whom she was sent out on
an experimental voyage to traffic within
various places and for other business
purposes. Her crew had been 45 men,
but she came to this port with only %
of the original number, II having died.
Capt. Arlington of the Athea tells this
extraordinary story, which is said to be
believed at Melbourne: I'm November
last the vessel was near Madagascar,
and in doubling Cape st. Mary, the
southernmost point of the Island, the
watch suddenly noticed what seemed
dense black cloud lowering in the air,
and apparently making direct for IL
alp IN anticipation of gale the
sails were instantly furled and all things
made ready for the storm, but the cloud
came on steadily, preceded by deafen-
ing din, and in about twenty minutes it
dissolved into perfect rain of swarming
flies, which settled down upon the ship,
where they were densely packed upon
each other They bit and stung and
buzzed till the men were almost crazed,
but all hands were instantly piped to
clear the decks and shovel the plague
into the sea. They worked for about
three hours, slashing and MASKING and
hammering the flies when, luckily for
them a mighty wind swept down from
the Red Mountains and blew the pests
all away The sailors who did not know
what to make of the affair, and were
growing supersticious about it, wished
instantly to leave the track they were
pursuing, which was toward the mouth
if the Sofala river, in the Mozambique,
but the captain refused to aceede to
their request. For days they proceeded
on their path across the Mozambique
channel, seeing no more of the flies until
they were within about four days sail
of Sofala,, when for whole day their
keel ran through miles of the rotting car
cases of these insects, which filled the
air with horrible and loathsome stencil.
Eight of the men were taken sick and
five of them died, their corpses being
covered with pustules somewhat resem-
bling those of smallpox, but looking
malignant, while yellowish green ichor
distilled from them even in DEATH The
men were on the verge of mutiny, but
there was nothing for them to do but
sail on, for now they had come to clear
uote- and evidently it would not do tt
sail over the course again. At last they
reached Sofala, whose inhabitants they
found suffering from a loathsome ant
most malignant type of smallpox, which
had long ragged in the interior and which
|
the physicians held had been propagateC
by enormous swarms of flies from unbur
led and rotting carcasses of victims broil
ing in the sun in that almost unknown
interior. They held, too, that not onl,
did the flies themselves reek with tn
virus, but that when they settled on
victim their pulvilli, which are bese
with numerous hairs, sucked up the viru
and then inoculated whoever they set
tied upon. The Althea sailed away, al
of its crew being reduced to the extrem
ity of fear, although none of them at tn
time were taken down with the disease
!, for on the sickness of the eight men, fv
of whom had already died and the othe
three of whom soon followed the surgeon
vaccinated them all. The Althea sailet
away northward toward the Comor
Island, every day or two running through
layers of rotting flies. The crew agail
became sick and half crazy, and wer
reduced almost to skeletons. Half o
them only were made to do duty for te
: hours at time, while the rest were con
: fined in the disinfected hold, where tn
:, surgeon by the means of some chemical
made them breathe air surcharged wit
oxygen, under the influence of whic
they came to sleep we'll and eat well, bu
their nervous systems deteriorated an
they became more and more insane
For some reason or other the Comor
Islands seemed free from this pestilenct
and here the crew remained for tire
:, weeks, during which time they wei
greatly recuperated Then they detci
mined to get away from the horror q
soon as possible and set about to retur
homewa1ds; but they went back to Mac
agascar, stopping midway between CAP
e Ambro and ST Andrew. Here the tree
e and shrubbery for great areas were co,
g cred and absolutely weighed down wit
|, enormous black flies, some of which WEI
e as large as humble bees, and OCCASIONAL
e vast clouds of them would whiz throug
r the air, and going down to the sho1
would settle on the ship. What the
lived on was the mystery, for alread