1:38:03
For several years, Asiatic cholera
has shown a marked tendency...
1:38:07
to spread beyond its source...
1:38:09
which, of course you know,
is in the waters of the Ganges.
1:38:13
First it spread to Hindustan...
1:38:16
then it moved east to China...
1:38:18
then it went west
to Afghanistan and Persia.
1:38:22
- Are you following me, sir?
- Yes.
1:38:27
From Persia, the plague moved
along the great caravan route...
1:38:32
striking terror in Afghanistan,
terror in Moscow.
1:38:36
From Moscow it was expected
to spread across to Europe by land.
1:38:41
No. Instead, it was carried by sea
from the Syrian ports...
1:38:46
to Toulon and Malaga...
1:38:49
and then to Palermo and Naples.
1:38:54
And it soon
got a very firm grip on Calabria.
1:38:58
Northern Italy
seems to have been spared so far.
1:39:02
But when you consider
the vulnerability of Venice...
1:39:06
with its lagoons and its scirocco...
1:39:10
In May...
1:39:13
the horrible vibrios were found...
1:39:17
on the same day in two bodies:
1:39:20
On the blackened, emaciated body
of a boatman...
1:39:26
and in a lady
who kept a greengrocer's shop.
1:39:32
Both of these deaths, of course,
were hushed up...
1:39:35
but now, week by week,
there are more and more deaths.
1:39:38
It's quite impossible to count
the number of the dead.
1:39:41
Do you know that in the hospitals
there's not a single free bed to be had?
1:39:48
People all know, of course.
They're terrified, but they're silent.
1:39:52
And do you know why?
1:39:54
Summer. Tourists.
1:39:57
The whole business of Venice is tourists.
1:39:59
Can you imagine Venice without tourists?