who died were buried in the tents, and the people of the provinces
knew little about it.

A large _akkaba_[122], consisting of upwards of 1700 camels,
157 arrived 23d August, 1799, at Akka from Timbuctoo, laden with
gum-sudan, ostrich-feathers, and gold dust, which had brought also
many slaves; this _akkaba_ had deposited its merchandize at Akka,
till the plague should disappear and the country become healthy; as
the people of that territory, unlike Muhamedans in general, will
hold no communication with the infected, nor will they admit any
one from these parts.

[Footnote 122: An _akkaba_ is an accumulated caravan.]

Mogodor, April 31, 1799.

A violent fever now rages at Fas: some assert it to be the plague,
but that is Moorish report, and little to be depended on; the
European consuls at Tangier, and the Spanish ambassador, who,
having terminated his embassy, has lately left Mequinas, mention it
as an epidemical disorder.

May 20. The small-pox rages violently throughout this country, and
is of a most virulent kind: its origin is ascribed to the famine
that has of late pervaded this country, and which was produced by
the incredible devastation of the devouring locusts; the dregs of
olives, after the oil had been extracted, has been the only food
that could be procured by many thousands.

Mogodor, June 14, 1799.

Various reports reach us daily from _the city of Marocco_,
respecting the epidemy that prevails there, some say 200 die, some
158 say 100, others limit the daily mortality to 50, in a population,
according to the imperial register, of 270,000.

When any _light_ rain falls, as is the case at Marocco at this
season of the year, the mortality increases. Mr. Francisco Chiappe,
an Italian merchant, is just arrived from Marocco, and is
performing quarantine, by his own desire, at the Emperor's
garden.[123] This gentleman reports, that the greater portion of
the people die of fear, from hunger, or bad food, or from the
small-pox, which latter has raged at Marocco the last month or two;
but he had not been able to ascertain, so various were the reports,
whether it was the plague or not. The emperor's army, a division of
which passed through this cou