ions commenced in Europe in the year 1348,
after the intervening districts of country in Asia had probably been
visited in the same manner.

On the island of Cyprus, the plague from the East had already broken out;
when an earthquake shook the foundations of the island, and was
accompanied by so frightful a hurricane, that the inhabitants who had
slain their Mahometan slaves, in order that they might not themselves be
subjugated by them, fled in dismay, in all directions. The sea
overflowed--the ships were dashed to pieces on the rocks, and few
outlived the terrific event, whereby this fertile and blooming island was
converted into a desert. Before the earthquake, a pestiferous wind
spread so poisonous an odour, that many, being overpowered by it, fell
down suddenly and expired in dreadful agonies.

This phenomenon is one of the rarest that has ever been observed, for
nothing is more constant than the composition of the air; and in no
respect has nature been more careful in the preservation of organic life.
Never have naturalists discovered in the atmosphere foreign elements,
which, evident to the senses, and borne by the winds, spread from land to
land, carrying disease over whole portions of the earth, as is recounted
to have taken place in the year 1348. It is, therefore, the more to be
regretted, that in this extraordinary period, which, owing to the low
condition of science, was very deficient in accurate observers, so little
that can be depended on respecting those uncommon occurrences in the air,
should have been recorded. Yet, German accounts say expressly, that a
thick, stinking mist advanced from the East, and spread itself over
Italy; and there could be no deception in so palpable a phenomenon. The
credibility of unadorned traditions, however little they may satisfy
physical research, can scarcely be called in question when we consider
the connection of events; for just at this time earthquakes were more
general than they had been within the range of history. In thousands of
places chasms were formed, from whence arose noxious vapours; and as at
that time natural occurrences were transformed into miracles, it was
reported, that a fiery meteor, which descended on the earth far in the
East, had destroyed everything within a circumference of more than a
hundred leagues, infecting the air far and wide. The consequences of
innumerable floods contributed to the same effect; vast river districts
had been con