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Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882

"The Voyage of the Beagle"

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 of death commenced at Sierra Leone. (16/6. A
similar interesting case is recorded in the "Madras Medical
Quarterly Journal" 1839 page 340. Dr. Ferguson in his admirable
Paper see 9th volume of "Edinburgh Royal Transactions" shows
clearly that the poison is generated in the drying process; and
hence that dry hot countries are often the most unhealthy.)
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.


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