the noxious vapours arising

The creator of Robinson Crusoe, the author, Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), travelled extensively in southern England in 1685 to 1690. In his book, A Tour through the Whole Island of Great Britain , he described the depredations of ague [malaria] in the Dengie marshes of Essex , an area 70 km east of London that remained notorious for the disease until the end of the 18th century.


Defoe observed:

 "strange decay of the [female] sex here . . . it was very frequent to meet with men that had had from five to six, to fourteen or fifteen wives . . . the reason . . . was this; that they [the men] being bred in the marshes themselves, and seasoned to the place, did pretty well with it; but that they always went into the hilly country . . . for a wife: that when they took the young lasses out of the wholesome and fresh air, they were healthy, fresh and clear, and well; but when they came out of their native aire into the marshes . . . they presently changed their complexion, got an ague or two, and seldom held it above half a year, or a year at most; and then . . . [the men] would go to the uplands again, and fetch another; so that marrying of wives was reckoned a kind of good farm to them."

One can only conclude “that marrying of wives was reckoned a kind of good farm to them” meant that despite the costs of burying numerous wives the potential dowries and goods that they brought with them made it quite lucrative for the men . Marrying and despatching delicate wives may have been a lucrative income for the males!

Paul Reiter (2000) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in San Juan, Puerto Rico wrote that :

Factors contributing to the decline include the following: Mosquito habitat was eliminated by improved drainage and extensive land reclamation. Root crops, such as turnips and mangel-wurzels, were introduced as winter fodder, enabling farmers to maintain much greater numbers of animals throughout the year; this diverted An. atroparvus, a zoophilic species, from feeding on humans. Rural populations declined as manual labor was replaced by machinery, further reducing the availability of humans as hosts for both mosquitoes and parasites. New building materials and improved methods of construction made houses more mosquito-proof, especially in winter, thus reducing the risk for contact with mosquitoes. Greater access to medical care and a rapid drop in the cost of quinine reduced the survival rate of the malaria parasite in its human host. From Shakespeare to Defoe: Malaria in England in the Little Ice Age

I wonder if the marshland farmers mourned the loss of their “good farm” as their wives managed to linger longer!