At the commencement, there was in England a superabundance of all the necessaries of life; but the plague, which seemed then to be the sole disease, was soon accompanied by a fatal murrain among cattle. Wandering about without herdsmen, they fell by thousands; and, as has likewise been observed in Africa, the birds and beasts of prey are said not to have touched them. Of what nature this murrain may have been, can no more be determined, than whether it originated from communication with plague patients, or from other causes; but thus much is certain, that it did not break out until after the commencement of the Black Death. In consequence of this murrain, and the impossibility of removing the corn from the fields, there was every where a great rise in the price of food, which to many was inexplicable, because the harvest had been plentiful; by others it was attributed to the wicked designs of the labourers and dealers; but it had its foundation in the actual deficiency, arising from circumstances by which individual classes at all times endeavour to profit. For a whole year, until it terminated in August, 1349, the Black Plague prevailed in this beautiful island, and every where poisoned the springs of comfort and prosperity.[95] [95] _Barnes_ and _Wood_. Loc. cit. In other countries, it generally lasted only half a year, but returned frequently in individual places; on which account, some, without sufficient proof, assigned to it a period of seven years.[96] [96] _Gobelin Person_, in _Meibom_. Loc. cit. Spain was uninteruptedly ravaged by the Black Plague till after the year 1350, to which the frequent internal feuds and the wars with the Moors not a little contributed. Alphonso XI., whose passion for war carried him too far, died of it at the siege of Gibraltar, on the 26th of March, 1350. He was the only king in Europe who fell a sacrifice to it; but even before this period, inumerable families had been thrown into affliction.[97] The mortality seems otherwise to have been smaller in Spain than in Italy, and about as considerable as in France. [97] _Juan de Mariana._ Historia General de España. Illustrated by Don _José Sabau y Blanco_. Tom. IX. Madrid: 1819, 8vo. Libro XVI. p. 225. Don _Diego Ortiz de Zuñiga_, Annales ecclesiasticos y seculares de Sevilla. Madrid: 1795, 4to. T. II. p. 121. Don _Juan de Ferreras_, Historia de España. Madrid: 1721. T. VII. p. 353.