fear of their infecting the people. In England,
in spite of her large trade with foreign lands, there were no such
buildings, and it is only wonderful that the plague was so little heard
of. Howard determined to insist on the wisdom and necessity of the
foreign plan; but as he always made his reports from experience and not
from hearsay, he felt that the time had come when he should first visit
the lazarettos, and then go through the forty days' quarantine himself.

This experiment was more dangerous than any he had yet tried, so instead
of taking a servant with him, as had generally been his habit, he set
out alone in November 1785.

* * * * *

As regards lazarettos, he found, as he had found with regard to prisons
and hospitals, that their condition depended in a great degree on the
amount of care taken by the ruler of the city. In Italy there were
several that were extremely well managed, especially in the dominions of
the grand duke of Tuscany; but he had made up his mind that when the
moment came for his quarantine it should be undergone in Venice, the
most famous lazaretto of them all. He took ship eastwards, and visited
the great leper hospital at the Island of Scio, where everything was
done to make the poor creatures as comfortable as possible. Each person
had his own room and a garden of his own, where he could grow figs,
almonds, and other fruit, besides herbs for cooking.

From Scio Howard sailed to Smyrna, and then changed into another vessel,
bound for Venice, which he knew would be put in quarantine the moment it
arrived in the city. The winds were contrary and the voyage slow, and
off the shores of Greece they were attacked by one of the 'Barbary
corsairs' who infested the Mediterranean. The Smyrna crew fought hard,
for well they knew the terrors of the fate that awaited them if
captured, and when their shot was exhausted they loaded their biggest
gun with spikes and nails, and anything else that came handy. Howard
himself aimed it, and after it had fired a few rounds, the enemy spread
his black sails and retired.

* * * * *

At length, after two months, Venice was reached, and as a passenger on
board a ship from an infected port, Howard was condemned to forty days'
quarantine in the new lazaretto. His cell was as dirty as any dungeon in
any English prison, and had neither chair, table, nor bed. His first
care was to clean it, but it wa