the number of vessels reached thirty, with 10,000 immigrants now waiting to be processed. By May 29, a total of 36 vessels had arrived. The end of May saw forty ships forming a line two miles (3 km) long down the St. Lawrence River. According to Dr Douglas, each one was affected by fever and dysentery. 1100 invalids were accommodated in sheds and tents, or laid out in rows in the church. Due to the lack of space on Grosse Isle, Dr. Douglas required healthy passengers to stay on ship for fifteen days once the sick had been removed, by way of quarantine. Infection flourished on board the ships. One ship, the Agnes, reached Grosse Isle with 427 passengers of whom only 150 survived the quarantine period. June On June 1, the Catholic archbishop of Quebec contacted all Catholic bishops and archbishops in Ireland, asking them to discourage their diocesans from emigrating. Despite this, of the 109,000 emigrants who had left for British North America, almost all were Irish. On June 5, 25,000 Irish immigrants were quarantined on Grosse Isle itself or waiting in the ships anchored nearby. July By mid-summer 2500 invalids were quarantined on Grosse Isle, and the line of waiting ships stretched several miles. At the end of the month, Dr. Douglas abandoned the quarantine regulations because they were 'impossible' to enforce. His new instructions were that the healthy would be released after a cursory check by the doctor. October Ice blocks the St. Lawrence and immigration ceases. 1848 to the present This information was taken from Île of Irish Tears, an article appearing in the Toronto Star on 2 May 1992. 1862: A total of 59 casualties die on the island, 34 from typhus. Medical improvements, the abandonment of slow-sailing ships in favour of steam ships and tougher quarantine regulations helped slow the spread of disease. 1870 - 1880: Only 42 deaths are reported on Grosse Isle during this decade. 1880 - 1932: Grosse Isle continues to act as a quarantine station against typhus, cholera, beriberi, smallpox and bubonic plague. 1909: The Ancient Order of Hibernians in America set up a Celtic cross with inscriptions in Irish, English and French, in memory of those who died during 1847 and 1848. 1932: Grosse Isle ceases to be a quarantine station. By this time, immigrants are arriving at many different ports and the city hospitals are capable of