A.D. 1809, epidemic pestilence suddenly made its appearance amongst the British troops occupying Portugal.
A.D. 1810, in the month of October, yellow pestilence appeared at Gibraltar: of the population of this fortress, amounting to 14,000, only twenty-eight escaped the malady; twelve of these had had the disease previously in the West Indies and elsewhere. A.D. 1811, puerperal fever was prevalent and lethal in Somersetshire.
A.D. 1812, Constantinople suffered dreadfully from plague, which carried off 160,000 persons. Since the severe winter of 1794–95, this country (England) had not experienced such an intense and continued cold as occurred during the present season, from the 30th of November, 1813, to February, 1814. The early part of December was raw, chilly, and occasionally foggy; frost, which was severe, commenced the day after Christmas-day: on the 27th it was accompanied by a thick fog, which, towards noon, became so dense as to render all objects invisible at a short distance, even with the aid of torches, so as to prevent the departure of mail-coaches and of other carriages; numerous accidents occurred in and near London. This singular and dark state of the atmosphere, which was extremely offensive both to the eyes and lungs, continued for the space of seven days, with scarcely any change, even at noon, except the appearance of a dim light during the latter; and as the frost increased, the houses, shrubs, and trees became thickly covered with the freezing humidity of the fog. This state of things terminated at the end of the week with a heavy fall of snow, which continued until the streets were covered to the depth of several feet, to the great interruption of all communication with the country for several days. In the last week of January, from a partial thaw, immense masses of ice were brought down the Thames, which, on the recurrence of frost, became so united as to be capable of supporting the weight of great multitudes of people, who were entertained in the booths erected upon the ice during the fair near Blackfriars Bridge. The wind blew almost invariably from the east and north-east, and was frequently very high, rendering the cold more intense: on many days the temperature was as low as 15° of Fahrenheit, and it was said to have fallen on some nights as low as 11°, and even lower. The effects of this severity of the cold were aggravated amongst the lower orders by the difficulty of procuring fuel, in consequence of the great scarcity of coals, which cost double the usual price. Persons of all ages suffered from severe influenza, attended with fever of a rather malignant type: children, and persons who had passed the middle period, as usual, suffered the most, from their vital powers being less energetic than during the intermediate periods of existence. During the months of October and November (1813) typhus fever became more frequent than it had been for several years previously: it prevailed mostly in the filthy courts of Saffron Hill, near Hatton Garden, which are almost exclusively inhabited by the lowest kind of Irish labourers. Scarlatina was also rife, but was not very fatal. These diseases were not, however, confined to the places where they first appeared; they soon showed themselves in the crowded districts in the eastern and north-eastern parts of the town, and in the Borough, and were greatly prevalent in the alleys about Essex Street, in Whitechapel, near Golden Lane, Old Street, and in many filthy courts about Cow Cross and Chick Lane, in the vicinity of Smithfield: they were also rife in the districts near Kent Street, in the parishes of St. George and St. Saviour, in Southwark, in the courts running into Shoe Lane, Clare Market, the Strand, at Somers Town, and, singular to say, they broke out last of all in St. Giles’, the district proverbially the receptacle of beggary and vice.
During this year (1813), yellow pestilence again made its appearance at Gibraltar; it raged from October till the month of December, when it subsided, after causing great destruction of the troops then in garrison. The civilians suffered an equal mortality. In the year following (1814), this epidemic again broke out in the month of August, and disappeared about the end of October; it was not again heard of on the rock until 1828.
A.D. 1813, plague made its appearance in the island of Malta, where it had not been known previously for 138 years,—not since the year 1675. From the month of April to that of November, 4483 persons were carried off by it; it also raged at Gozzo, Corfu, &c.
A.D. 1815, the harvest was unfavourable all over Europe, and several provinces of Naples were threatened with famine. On the 27th of December, a suspicious epidemic broke out at Noya: it consisted of a hot nervous fever, rapidly running its course, with gangrenous and malignant boils and carbuncles; women were the first and most frequent victims; children also suffered in a similar proportion; old persons were more exempt. The disease soon afterwards appeared at Cagliari, and it is stated not to have presented any of the characteristics of the plague, although it was very fatal. This pestilence was preceded by a famine, which commenced among the poor: other diseases prevailed at the same time: the prevalence of a south wind seemed to increase its propagative powers; it continued about six months, when it ceased suddenly in the following year, 1816.
About this period, A.D. 1815, pestilential disease was developed in the island of Corfu; it first made its appearance at a little village called Marathea, in the district of Lefchimo. Tully states that nothing could equal the wretched appearance of the village,—poverty, with all its miserable train of attendants, presenting itself to view at every step. Near this village stagnant pools and marshes everywhere presented themselves: rains set in earlier than usual, and were followed by a long drought and heat, unnatural for the advanced season of the year, with a constant sirocco or south-east wind: so rapidly fatal was this pestilence, that more than a fourth part of the inhabitants were carried off in a few days. It is recorded that out of 700 seized in this small village, only 78 recovered!
During the same year, the fall of rain in the East was remarkable, especially during the rainy season, when it was indeed excessive,—and that which rendered it the more worthy of notice was, that the Ganges, the Soane, and the Coossee rivers burst their boundaries, and destroyed a vast extent of agricultural property in the neighbouring districts. The cold season that followed was also damp, and not bracing; and again the hot or summer season that followed was also moist. The winter which followed was unfortunately also damp, and the atmosphere during the subsequent summer, A.D. 1816, was exceedingly loaded with moisture in the shape of dense fogs; drought followed, for the heat was intense; few north-westers, it is said, occurred to temper the air, and those which did were accompanied with little or no rain: towards the end of the month of May, the thermometer had risen to 98° in the shade,—a very uncommon height in Bengal. This scorching, burning weather continued uninterrupted unto the middle of June. In the remaining portion of June and in July the rains fell moderately in Calcutta and in its vicinity; but in the month following, August, the showers became scanty and rare, while the days and nights were oppressively hot. In the western part of the provinces the great drought which succeeded dried up the rivers, so that apprehensions were entertained for the safety of the rice cultivation. The 1st of September ushered in a most unexpected change: rain came down in deluges, and continued unabated during the entire month: it caused a greater and more extensive inundation than had happened within the recollection of the oldest inhabitant.
The morbid effects of a long train of anomalous weather then became evident amongst the people. Low fevers of a typhoid character prevailed, accompanied by a malignant sore-throat,—a disease previously unknown there, according to the Bengal Report.
A.D. 1817 was the commencement of a pestilential period, during which disease raged rampant all over the habitable globe, and so continued for a series of years: yellow pestilence prevailed with great violence, and caused great mortality at Savannah, New Orleans, Mobile, Natchez, the Havannah, Baltimore, Charleston, and elsewhere in the United States.