XXIV.
March 31st.
… HOLY SATURDAY morning;—nine o'clock. All the bells
suddenly ring out; the humming of the bourdon blends with the
thunder of a hundred guns: this is the Gloria! … At this signal
it is a religious custom for the whole coast-population to enter
the sea, and for those living too far from the beach to bathe in
the rivers. But rivers and sea are now alike infected;—all the
linen of the lazarettos has been washed therein; and to-day there
are fewer bathers than usual.
But there are twenty-seven burials. Now they are ring the dead
two together: the cemeteries are over-burdened. …
