Chap. I. LEPROSY. 15 



There is one great drawback to the merits of San- 

 tarem. This is the prevalence here of the terrible lep- 

 rosy. It seems, however, confined to certain families, and 

 I did not hear of a well-authenticated case of a Euro- 

 pean being attacked by it. I once visited many of the 

 lepers in company of an American physician. They do 

 not live apart ; family ties are so strong, that all at- 

 tempts to induce people to separate from their leprous 

 relatives have failed ; but many believe that the malady 

 is not contagious. The disease commences with glan- 

 dular swellings in different parts of the body, which are 

 succeeded by livid patches on the skin, and at the tips 

 of the fingers and toes. These spread, and the parts 

 embraced by them lose their sensibility, and decay. 

 In course of time, as the frightful atrophy extends to 

 the internal organs, some vital part is affected, and the 

 sufferer dies. Some of the best families in the place 

 are tainted with leprosy ; but it falls on all races alike ; 

 white, Indian, and negro. I saw some patients who 

 had been ill of it for ten and a dozen years ; they were 

 hideously disfigured, but bore up cheerfully ; in fact, 

 a hopeful spirit, and free, generous living had been the 

 means of retarding in them the progress of the dis- 

 order ; none were ever known to be cured of it. One 

 man tried a voyage to Europe, and was healed whilst 

 there, but the malady broke out again on his return. 

 I do not know whether the dry and hot soil of San- 

 tarem has anything to do with the prevalence of this 

 disease ; it is not confined to this place, many cases 

 having occurred at Para, and in other provinces, but 

 it is nowhere so rife as here ; the evil fame of the 



