The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-11-01
THE LEIERS or MOLOKi iI.
A Dark and ,,cvolting picture.
correspondent Of the san Francisco Bulle-
tin, writing from the !;.ndw ich Islands, says

"A correspondent U: the N'n fiHhS''Co puhS-
tin, writing from the S.n,lm ich Islands, says
After u few days nf very quiet life In lIaaia,
began to look with no i!i;Ic curiosity towards
q low peninsula to the westward on the north
cOast vi MOlokal. i: l.; the home OF the lcpcrs.
swift and fortunately S','nth sail under the
shadow OF slupcn,lu!s c,!.!S. that make bcaliti-
full and terrible This side of the island, brought
one safely 10 the sh"rc; there, watching lis
chance, the canoe plunged In tlEon the beach
over the breakers tha: render landing IN this
netShborhuod very unsafe and often impusSi-
pic The peninsula, perhaps three miles
broad, spreading: couple Of miles into the
sea, IL SO completely isolated That you cOuld
hardly imagine Il more appropriate and secure
retreat for the poor victims OF lcmuSy.
A rough sea breaks continually upon II wild
forbidding coast AZ the back an alm0St per-
pendlcular wall towers To the height Of three
thousand feet. There is hut one avenue of
approach by land---a narrow z!.zag trail cut
In the flcc of this wall. drapping painfully
Into the plain. below. 10 doubt filling the
breast of the unhappy lrper, who is conduct
ed hlthcr by an officer with sickness and hOr-
TOR as lie feels That no" Indeed lie Is banished
out OF the world aall forgotten Of mcil. Yet
this very banisltnent il 10 him Il good for
tune-perhaps the best t,, colil,l bci;i,l him.
At his home, ii hc hava ANY worthy Of The
name, he Is more W less regarded with sus
picion, or treated with reserve. Many Of The
natives arc quite afirii, ot contagion; believe
gi0lts. Here he Is bci cared for than lie
could be elsewhere; h; .ooh clothing and
shelter arc ccrtainic:i they were pcradyen-
lures before. Being among his fellows the
constant associate Of those who, like himself,
arc In some sense condemned To living
deatll-hc Is always treated with cOnsldcla-
tlon and Kindness. What can bc more Iiaiii-
ral thnn, ut least, conlentmCnt?
.sfii,sT, r;lE WORST"
Forty years ago. u foreigner who visited
these Islands communicated this mnHt horrible
OF diseases to u native woman, and from them
have sprung the seeds that even ut this lato
day can hardly be er;idicatcd. Every island
In the kingdom is haunted With the miserable
victims, SO terribly branded thnt N0 artlcr
under heaven can mask their dcihrmi;y. 81
lcntly, but with dca!ly certainty, he IL attacked
by slow degrees, and almost uncunsciOusly
slrrcnders his faculties 30 the tyranny of the
plague. AS the Doctor AMI were travelling
natives came 10 us ilaEi time to- time, report
Ing supposed cases oi lcprOsy LII this ur flat
valley. They were al once sr.l for, and
usually made th.ir appearance ai,cr II little
hesitation they dTral bainS carried from their
homes fearing SOFA" aari of imprisonment.
few whom the Doctor sent for were mol to bc
found, having been Ecc:c;cd by their friends,
who could not kr persuaded tO confess any
knowledge Of their whereabouts. One lrpc.
wns hunted for six months, anu WAS still at
liberty, his Immediate relatives keeping him
concealed nnd running the risk Of infection,
lnthcr than give him up to the authorities.
All this time lie Is stunned by many AMI ridl-
cued by not y few.
A SiSGrLAR TRAIT
"
to laugh Mt dcfo-ni!y. but fortunate cly civiiiza-
tion rcflnrs away this bavbarism Tie natives
nrc at least natural as natural as children.
To them any sort ot dcfOrmiiy Is Il constant
source OF mcrrmr:i. AS we rode one day
through small village, our attention Was nj
trnctcd by q swarm of children. nplM: emily
just out of schOul. They were gathered about
: q young girl who stood like n static in their
6nidst; her chin resting upon her E:clst her
ends hidden In tl,c folds OF her coarse gown.
1--WE drew nearer the children turned from
o us, calling or attention to her In Il most
less manner: holding M her hanls and
hitting to her feet in the most bo'.. rol,s
MOnts OF laughter. The Doctor qnic:"d their
Flnscemly mirli. anl taking the poor c!Mld's
hand, found the bones of tho fingers quite dcs-
ttntc of flesh, and her feet i'm Il pitiahlc con-
melancholy state was The OCCASION OF tho
strange scene we witnysa"d. A boy with n
ont % and nd eShttrt! 10 the Iiaoil with The great
est JUNCTION, az ono world show double
neaded chicken or cat with two tails.
Usually the unhappy creatures are named
fr0n their tlriuriri:ics, rs " Cuckcy." or
"CrOOkcd-!9c.n
TnE IAzAR HOUSE,
was the guest ui Il inDst nnabc couple,
Mr.. and Mrs. Walsh, who have charge of thc
two hundred ami rishly-inur lcpcrs naw in the
settlement. ! found mine host living in :, lii
tic cottage, surrounded by the various hu:p!lai
wards, dOrmitorlcs ami small II lwrn.i in
fact, right in tkc Mitlst Of the pr#tilciicc.
Here, seldom meeting with foreigners, WHOSE
curiosity s generally not equal To their cn,,!inn
continually at the mercy Of the multitude
around them; thcmelycs, possible victims uftlc
same terrible malady, patient, l0ng-surcring,
mcrciul, their life Is indeed hcorolc an.i worthy
of oil praise. Mr.. Walsh showed us through the
hospitals, four ihr-sizcd buildings of one room
each, with plenty OF wln,,owa and fortunately
plenty OF sea mir always blowing over tho place.
we we walked perhaps quarter of a mile to Il
little village Of leperss, nnslins NJ the
foot Of one OF those sn',erb cliffs, unparalleled
for snblimo brniIty, There live the mod
crate cases, having ihcir own hn,aa, i,nrsl,s.
garden plots, and sometimes friends IL: ''hclp-
ors" for company. They certainly Ercm co;i-
tented, some Of them are actually cheerful.
The "helpcrs' are th0sp who promise to re-
main ut the settlement, willing 10 1.-Two there
with their afflicted friends and care i1r them.
They build and repair houses, attend To the
gardens, and are generally useful, making
I4elr own living and serving the lcpers b.
sides. In this way lhey arc also u relief 10 the
who would otherwise require hirGsl watchers.
It has been also decided that husbands of lc-
prouS wives, or Uice UeiSd, are in nature
divorced, but Il they are willing may accept
Many gladly avail themselves of''iIo oppor-
tunity.
sTnANos INFATUATI0N
There Is poem Of Algornon Charles Swim
burno's, In which youth is made TO lavish
the swinburnian quantity Tor quality Of love
is o failure because Of its hideous concrit.
There arc q dozen cases OF like nature In this
valley of death. Though equally ncompre-
henslDle, they arc nevertheless true. One poor
unfortunate, Mt least forty years old, and re-
puisiyo as cobra, Is fairly worshippod by
well Knit youth of two-and-twenty, who for
sakes the world and Its temptations (Which Is
saying much for q kamka) and clcayes 10 his
Medusa: think Swnburno should bc acuuit-
ted OF the Charge Of morbid cXaggcration rnon
this evidence, which will swear 10. 4 more
singular fact is, that q man and his wife
may live together for half a dozen years,
ono being lcprous while the other Is
undcillcd. 1t Is the custom in the re-
lgious asyllms In tho Lcvant, when a lcper
ia presented, 10 administer the sacrament of
extreme JUNCTION, md to perform IL certain
ceremonial Of burial by proxy. AQer that tho
lepcr Is considered rs one dead, and consc-
quently no longer accountable for his mis-
dceds.. Tllisis perhaps questionable severity
since, In f0mc countries, lcprosy Is not con-
sldered necessarily fatal. Agassz, In Ills
Tourney In Brazil" pp.. 315-G, mentions two
" nj