Sentence:  That was in the days of the first great stampede to the goldfields, when the embryo seaports were as empty as though they were <WSD>plague-ridden</WSD>, and every man who had the use of his legs was on the wide bush-track, bound for the north. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  ("of a place or community") Experiencing an epidemic or epidemics of bubonic plague or another illness.