larly kind to my uncle on his first arrival in Malaga. My
uncle went immediately to Father Bustamante, gave him every consolation
in his power, and then returned to his own house very unwell, there to
die a martyr to his charity. Father Bustamante breathed his last before
daylight; my uncle took to his bed, and never rose more. As soon as we
had received information of his sickness, I immediately set out on foot
for the city. His friend, Mr. Power, now of Gibraltar, was already in
his room, doing everything that friendship could suggest or prudence
dictate. My uncle's athletic constitution bore up against the disease
much longer than we thought it possible. He struggled with it for five
days, and sank at last about the hour of sunset. He stood six feet four
inches high; and was of so kind and generous a disposition, that he was
beloved by all who knew him. Many a Spanish tear flowed when it was
known that he had ceased to be. We got him a kind of coffin made, in
which he was conveyed at midnight to the outskirts of the town, there to
be put into one of the pits which the galley-slaves had dug during the
day for the reception of the dead. But they could not spare room for the
coffin; so the body was taken out of it, and thrown upon the heap which
already occupied the pit. A Spanish marquis lay just below him.

"Thousands died as though they had been seized with cholera, others with
black vomit, and others of decided yellow fever. There were a few
instances of some who departed this life with very little pain or bad
symptoms: they felt unwell, they went to bed, they had an idea that they
would not get better, and they expired in a kind of slumber. It was sad
in the extreme to see the bodies placed in the streets at the close of
day, to be ready for the dead-carts as they passed along. The dogs
howled fearfully during the night. All was gloom and horror in every
street; and you might see the vultures on the strand tugging at the
bodies which were washed ashore by the eastern wind. It was always said
that 50,000 people left the city at the commencement of the pestilence;
and that 14,000 of those who remained in it fell victims to the disease.

"There was an intrigue going on at court, for the interest of certain
powerful people, to keep the port of Malaga closed long after the city
had been declared free from the disorder; so that none of the vessels in
the mole could obtain permission to depart for their des