164 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES. 



Upon my return to Roseau I was suffering from a 

 low fever that would not be shaken off; and upon the 

 advice of the two doctors I decided to rest for a month, 

 either in the mountains or at some point on the west- 

 ern shore. The young doctor was going down the 

 island to visit a distant town, and it was decided by 

 my friends that I should occupy a seat in his boat 

 until he reached Battalie, Dr. Imray's lime orchard 

 on the Caribbean coast. 



Aside from a large and constantly increasing prac- 

 tice, Dr. Nicholls was burdened with the duty, al- 

 most self-imposed, of medical superintendent of the 

 Yaws hospital. The name yaws, or yaw, is of Afri- 

 can origin, and is said to be derived from the resem- 

 blance of the fungoid ulcers or tumors, which cover the 

 skin in this disease, to a raspberry, or strawberry, of 

 which yaw is the native African name. To present 

 a description of this disease, unknown in America 

 and Europe, I quote from the doctor's annual report 

 for 1878. 



"The disease Frambesia, or Yaws, was introduced 

 into the West Indies by negro slaves imported from 

 Africa. The date of its ingress into Dominica is un- 

 known, but it existed in the island early in the present 

 century. It did not, however, make any great head- 

 way before emancipation, for each estate of consider- 

 able size had its ' Yaws-house,' and the infected 

 patients were there segregated and treated by a nurse, 

 under the direction of a medical attendant. Upon the 

 abolition of slavery, and the consequent impoverish- 

 ment of many estates and the total abandonment of 

 others, the medical surveillance of the negroes came 

 to an end, and the number of persons affected with 



