It Appears Certain That Those
Who Stay On Board A Vessel, Though Anchored At Only A Short
Distance From The Coast, Generally Suffer Less Than Those
Actually On Shore.
On the other hand, I have heard of one
remarkable case where a fever broke out among the crew of
a man-of-war some hundred miles off the coast of Africa,
and at the same time one of those fearful periods [6] of death
commenced at Sierra Leone.
No state in South America, since the declaration of
independence, has suffered more from anarchy than Peru. At
the time of our visit, there were four chiefs in arms contending
for supremacy in the government: if one succeeded
in becoming for a time very powerful, the others coalesced
against him; but no sooner were they victorious, than they
were again hostile to each other. The other day, at the
Anniversary of the Independence, high mass was performed, the
President partaking of the sacrament: during the _Te Deum
laudamus_, instead of each regiment displaying the Peruvian
flag, a black one with death's head was unfurled. Imagine
a government under which such a scene could be ordered, on
such an occasion, to be typical of their determination of
fighting to death! This state of affairs happened at a time
very unfortunately for me, as I was precluded from taking
any excursions much beyond the limits of the town. The
barren island of St. Lorenzo, which forms the harbour, was
nearly the only place where one could walk securely.
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