THE PLAGUE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 90, 12 April 1900, Page 4

THE PLAGUE.

——^__^i__ — AN ANCIENT INVESTIGATION.

H, P. Hartsack, apparently a tourist, sends the following readable story to the Otaqo Daily Times, an extract from the famous "Annals of Tabari" translated by Professor Noldecke: — In the fifth year of the reign of the Caliph Haroun-er-Rashid there came to the Court certain men from a far country, bearing news that there had arisen in that land a strange sickness, whereof no man knew the cause; nor, indeed, aught else, save only that it was sore upon the people, and spared not rats, nor apes, nor squirrels, nor even the doves in their cotes. Wherefore the Caliph, ever a seeker after knowledge, called unto him-certain wise men of his court, and charged them that they should set forth into that country, and anon bring unto him such tidings as they might gather regarding that strange sickness; and that he, the Caliph, would defray their charges; yet that if the ruler of that land should in honour of the Caliph desire to discharge the expenses of their journeyings and their victual, his desire should by all means be gratified to the uttermost. So the wise men set forth about the time of the fall of the leaf, and took i ship, and came safely to that far land, where they made obeisance to the ruler offered the greetings of the Caliph. And the ruler of the land, who wae, indeed, in some sense the Caliph's vassal, treated the wise men I well, and said that all they desired would be shown to them, and that as to their charges he Would after confer with the Caliph. And the wise men sent forth proclamation that all who wished to speak concerning the sickness should in the first place write down all they knew, and send the writing io the scribe of the wise men, who would after signify if they desired the presence of the witnesses. The ruler of the land wrote further to his satraps, and his leeches, and his warriors that they should gather all manner of knowledge concerning the sickness; which measure gave rise to no small degree of discontent against the ruler. Then the wise men went forth, and journeyed through the land, living on the fat thereof. And they enquired of the sickness from all that knew, and from many that did not know, but none the less said that they did. And when the season drew towards the summer the wise men withdrew themselves from the heat, and came again to their own country, and sought audience of the Caliph. And the Caliph gave them greetings, and inquired of their quest. Theu the chief of the wise men made answer and said, " 0 King, live for ever! All that thy servants have learnt have thoy written in this roll. And truly this sickness is a strange thing. For in the .'and from which we are come there be those who say there i<i no strange sickness therein, but only a sickne s which for many yeaivs has prevailed in portions of tue realm, And some say that the pestilence has come from Cathay by ships, and others that it came to the chief ports of the land through pilgrims from the North. Some say that rats carry the pest from house to house, and others say that it is not so. Some say that the cause of the disease is a seed so little that it may not be discerned by the eye of man, but others deny that there is such a seed at all. Then in that country we have met with a learned man from the West, who hath devised a magic potion which, being taken, dotli protect men against the disease ; and we met others who aver this fluid is no protection—nay, that it is harmful. Moreover, there be many that pioclaim that when the pestilence cometh into a walled city the inhabitants thereof should proceed into the wilderness, abiding in huts and tents, whereon the sickness will presently abate and cease; yet have we read in the records* that even so the pestilence i continueth the second and third month after. All these things, and many others, 0 King, have we written in this roll. Further, in this other roll have we written the account of our charges ; which, when we presented to the ruler of the land, he said that he beheld it not, and that he would see us further than Bagdad ; which, 0 King, are hard sayings." Then the Caliph took the first roll, and read it, and mused upon it; and then he looked upon the second roll, and pulled his beard, as was his wont I when perturbed. Then he said to the chief of the wise men, " It seometh to J us that the things ye have written are contrary the one t,» the other; what, then, is the truth 2" And the chief of the wise men answered, " U King, we

know not." Then the Caliph dismissed the wise men, and called to him, the keeper of the rolls, Khalid ibn Barmek, and the Grand Vizier that kept the Caliph's purse, and said, "Take thou this roll and preserve it; and take thou this, defray the charges, and to-morrow call together the Ulema to consider how best to increase the taxes."