lating disease
surpasses all thought. Numbers of families are altogether swept away;
in numerous others, out of ten or twelve, only one, two, or three
remain; but I hear of none, save our own, where death has not entered.
Yet, while I bless and praise the Holy Name of our Lord, under whose
wing alone we came here, and under whose wing alone we have trusted,
the things my eyes have seen, and my ears heard, press upon my heart,
and make me at times very sad; neither can I chase them from my mind.
I can only look forward for comfort to that day, when the Lord himself
will come to put an end to this dispensation of desolation, and
introduce his own peace. Yea, come Lord Jesus, come quickly.

We have just heard melancholy tidings of another caravan, which
endeavoured to escape into Persia from the plague, but has been forced
back again by the Arabs, the floods, and the scarcity of provisions,
and besides numbers among them have died daily of the plague, so still
we can bless God we did not leave our present position by this last
opportunity. Let us then again bless him for not allowing us to make
haste.

_May 3._--To-day we trust the Lord has a little alleviated the
virulence of the plague; many attacked yesterday, and the day before,
have been rapidly recovering, and fewer deaths have taken place
to-day--a great deal so far as we can ascertain. May God's holy name
be praised, who is a hiding place from every storm. We had our water
jars filled again to-day, when many, even of the rich, who have
connections in every direction, find the greatest difficulty. "Your
water shall be sure." We who are alone, and without a friend within
hundreds of miles in any direction, have been supplied by our Lord's
gracious ordering; thus he puts a new song into our mouths, even a
song of thanksgiving. To-day all are well, even our dear little baby
is quite recovered.

_May 4._--The weather has for these two or three days past been
beautifully fine, and clear, and hot, by which our God seems to have
mitigated the symptoms of the plague. All accounts to-day are
encouraging; the number of new cases few, and the number of those
recovering many. Our eyes have also been rejoiced by the sight of
three or four water-carriers passing again, after an interval of ten
days; many more people have also been passing and repassing than
before; so we trust the Lord is now taking away this desolating
judgment, which, in less than two months, has carried aw