The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-04-11
THE LEPER SETTLEMENT.
Observations and Impressions OF a
Visitor From Abroad.

Observations and Impressions OF a
Visitor From Abroad.
The following letter tells its own
story. Mr.. Clifford is so well and so
favorably known to a large number
Of persons, having spent about four
months in visiting the various points
of interest in the islands, that his
statements will be likely to carry
with them more weight than is the
case with the opinions Of ordinary
tourists. The use of gurjun oil Is
something of which we purpose
speaking hereafter more fully.
DEAR Mr. DAMON; My visit to the
leper settlement on ALolokai has
given me great satisfaction. The
Board of Health kindly arranged for
me to stay fortnight at the guest
house, so that [ had ample OppOr-
tunIty for sketching and observing.
1t was a great surprise to me to find
how apparently happy and cOntented
the lepers were in spite of the dis
ease. They almost always looked
cheerful and ready to give me a
smiling greeting, whether L met
them riding or walking about the
place, or sitting chatting at home.
[ was glad to find from those able to
Judge that the leprosy certainly takes
a mIlder form in the island than 1t
took some years ago, and that gener-
ally speaking the lepers do not suffer
severe pain. / saw several bad cases
in the hospitals, but compared to
what [ have recently seen in India,
there were few in proportion to the
population. This is [ suppose mainly
due to the excellent sanatOry ar
engagements on the island. The cot
tages are we'll ventilated, the supply
of good water is plentiful, and the
food, as far as l could judge, excel
lent. During my stay [ subsisted
largely on the same meat and bis
cults which were supplied to the
Iepers, as my visit was heightened
Unexpectedly, and the supply of food
I had brought with me became ex-
hausted. / noticed that even the
numerous dogs about the place
looked we'll fed.
I was struck with the diligence Of
Dr. Swift, who seemed to be always
hard at work among his patients,
and to be quite absorbed IN attend
ing to them. l attended two services
on Sunday, Protestant and Roman
Catholic, and in both cases there was
a large congregation and hearty
singing. [ was particularly pleased
with the Bishop cottages erected for
girls, superintendent by the Fran
ciscan Sisters. They were kept in
beautiful order, and the girls looked
happy; they and the boys at Kala-
wac were very much delighted with
the magic lantern of scriptural views
which l had brought with me from
England. l think you are aware
that one of my chief objects in visit
ing the leper settlements was to in
troduce to them the gurjun oil which
has proved itself so valuable cure
in the Andaman Islands and in other
places. DIR. Swift was very kind in
furthering my wishes about this
matter and the Sisters willingly con
sented to try the remedy on the girls
in their charge. While l was there
there was a marked improve
ment in the patients who
used it-voice, face, sleep, and
general health being all notice
ably better, but feel that good |
deal of pressure would have to !
be put on lepers before they could |
give the oil a sufficiently lengthy !
trial to produce a cure. Two small |
doses have to be taken daily and it |
should be rubbed all over the body |
for two hours twice daily. You |
know better than I how difficult it .
will be to persuade Hawaiian lepers
to make this exertion. IF, however,
this can be done, I feel persuaded
that a cure will be the result. l am
assured by Sir Donald Stuart (late
governor of the Andaman Islands)
that every one of his convict lepers
without exception was cured by the
gurjun oil treatment, though many
cases were far advanced and of sew
eral years standing. I shall indeed
be thankful if the same results can
be attained in Hawaii. There is q
large supply Of oil at the settlement
and more is to arrive shortly. The
only fear is that it will not be stead
lily and sufficiently applied. Would
it be possible for the matter to be
taken up by the authorities?
[ left Molokai in the Likelike, the
ship which carried for the first time
the friends of the lepers at Homo
lulu to spend few hours with the
sufferers, and I was deeply inter
ested in the excursion. / had previ
ously witnessed the heart breaking
parting of those who were leaving
their homes and families for MoIo-
kai, and it must have been an I'M
speakable delight to find that the
links were not brnlyo'o f~-'Avor and
tha+ .--Aln IUTy-, o., 49,.
= $50, aggregation at the settlement
did not mean absolute separation for
life. [ shall never forget the scene.
! 1t was certainly beautiful thought
to plan this excursion, and it must
make a permanent change in the
feelings of dread with which life
! y