The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1874-04-18
The Leper Asylum of Molokai.

lFUCrs established and maintained Dy tue llh"al-
ian Government, Old the Island Of M0lOkai, has
been one OF tire most interesting and at tie came
time ouaof tbc -lddr-t phases fife IN Iluwaii mel.
r. has been more than once described By visitors
from abroad, who after returning to their own
countries have published their accounts Of what
they saw, which accounts have been more or less
correct and impartial; bat the place and It's in
habiiantz have until now been only incidentally
touched upon by the pres here. AvaiiIng QUIZ
selves therefore Of e propg-ei visit by members
Of the Board Di Health 10 the settlement, IN com
Tany wiki His Majesty the King, and Of a court
cons invitation 20 ~cc5mpan the party, we took
passage on the good steamer K,}ouea last Satur-
dag evening, and in due course Of time found
ourselves rounding the East point Of Molokai,
steaming along near the land over a tranquil sea,
towards KalauPaIa, the landing Of the Leper
Settlement. situated on the windward side Of the
island. The scenery on the Eastern or windward
side Of MoIokai il grand and picturesque, resem-
bling that Of Hamakua on Hawaii, OF some parts
Of Kauai between Hanalei and Mana. This isl
and is spoken Of IN the old native songs as ' No
lOkai. alma paIi the land Of precipices-aud
We passed close 10 towering walls of rock that
sprang straight as a plumb-linc from the edge Of
the sea a thousand TO twenty-five hundred feet,
broken here and there by deep gulches, at the
mouth Of which were small level fats containing
a few scattered native huts. Down the perpen-
dicular sides Of mountains ran silyery streams Of
water, leaping and flashing in the sunlight and
beautifully relieved against the deep green Of the
verdurc that luzuriantly chung to the steepest
rocks. In ono place, between the gulches Of Ha-
lava and Wailau, the cascade makes a leap of at
least two hundred feet in It's descent, the water
plunglng in successive jets from a p~recipice, like
a line of feathered coursers, and mostly d~issipated
into mist before reaching the rocks below. \
little before - noon on Tuesday, we arrived of
the landing Of
RALAUPAFA.
This is an indentation or small bay on the
northeast side Of the island, and is quite accessi-
bic in ordinary weather. The anchorage is good,
but the landing is none Of the best, except when
the sea is smooth. Here is a store-house or two,
and a small stone church, erected by the Father
Damiens of the Catholic Mission, a worthy clergy
man who has here exiled himself for the benefit
of the poor lepers of hs faith. The Father we
did not see, as he Was absent on duty in some
other part Of his field, but a simple mention of
his name ELECTED a proof of the high estimation
in which he is held by his people. As our party
stepped on shore, we found the lepers assembled
to the number Of two or three hundred-there
arc 697 all told in the settlement-for thew had
heard in advance Of our coming, and our cars
were greeted with the sounds of lively music.
This proceeded from the - band, - consisting of a
drum, a fife and two flutes, rather skilIfully
played upon by four young lads, whose visages
were horribly marked and disfgured with leprosy.
The sprightly airs with which these poor crea-
lures welcomed the arrival of the party, sounded
strangely incongruOus and out of place, and
grated harshly upon our feelings. And then as
we proceeded up the beach, and the crowd gath
cred about us, eager and anxious for a recognition
or a kind word of greeting-oh, the r~epulsiye
and sickening libels and distorted caricatures of
the human-face divine upon which we looked
And as they evidently read the in-concealed
aversion in our countenances, they withdrew the
halEprOfered hand. and skunk hack with haasins
heads- Ihey felt again that they were Eepers.
the outcasts of society, and must not ontaminate
us with their touch. A few cheerful words of
enquiry from the physician, DR.. Trousseau, ad-
dressed to individuals as to their particular cases,
broke the embarrassment of this first meeting.
and soon the crowd were chatting and laughing
just like any other crowd of thoughtless Hawai-
ians, and with but few exceptions these %unfortu-
nate exiles showed no signs of the settled melan-
choly that would naturally be looked for from
people so hopelessly situated. Very happy were
they when spoken TO, and quite ready to answer
any questions. We saw numbers whom we had
known in years past, and who having disappeared,
We had thought dead. One we had known as a
Representative, and a very intelligent one too. in
the Legislature of 1868. On greeting him as an
old-time acquaintance, he observed, "Yes, we
meet again-in this living grave" He is a man
of no little consideration among the people,
being entrusted by the Board of Health with the
care of the store which is kept here for the sale
of such goods as the people require. For be it
known that the lepers, like other people, have
tastes to crafty and some of them, either by
their own e~xertions or by the assistance of friends,
have the means to pay for even small luxuries.
The goods are sold to them for cash at a trifing
advance on cost, sufficient to clear actual expenses
of freight. OF course, the people were dressed
in their best to meet the visitors, and it is quite
safe to say that they were better clothed generally
than would have been an equal number of people
in any of the country districts. Many wore shoes
and coats, but there was something ludicrous as
well as melancholy in witnessing the exhibition
of the ruling passion for fnery in the fair sex.
y woman-once perhaps a Hawaiian belle with
fair pretensiOns to beauty of face, but now carry
ing n countenance that is hideous beyond express
sion-sports a hat of the latest style, garnished
with gay ribbons, and throws about chances of
dissatisfaction from her leper-glazed, google eyes.
But all do not appear to be lepers who are
leprous. We saw numbers who might pass along
our streets any day without being suspected of
the faint. They had 1t however, in one way or
another. Sometimes on the e~xtremities only.
eating away the flesh and rotting the bones of
the hands or feet and sometimes only appearing
in black and indurated spots on the skin, noticed
only on a somewhat close examination. This last