344 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



islimeiit. A native who lives near by has charge of 

 them, and my opinion was very decided that they 

 were well cared for by the government. As we 

 passed fi^om house to house, the officer called them 

 out, and I gave each a small piece of silver, for which 

 they appeared very grateful. There are now nine- 

 teen here afflicted with this loathsome malady. The 

 part that appears to be the first attacked is the 

 nose, the next is the hands, and the last the feet, 

 though in some it only appears in one of these organs. 

 In one case the nose had wholly disappeared — even 

 the partition between the nostrils — so that I could 

 look directly into the chamber over the mouth. At 

 the same time the muscles on one side of the face 

 were so contracted that the features presented a most 

 sickening sight. In another case, the nose and all 

 the upper lip were gone, and even the outer part of 

 the upper jaw, so that the front teeth only stuck 

 fast on one side, and were com]3letely exposed to 

 view throughout theii' entire length. These, how- 

 ever, were the older cases, in which the disease had 

 made greater progress. Many had lost their fingers 

 and toes. One little girl had her ankles and feet so 

 swollen that her ankle-bones could not be seen, and 

 yet I could not but notice how cheerful she appeared. 

 Two men had the disease in their feet, which had 

 swollen until they were three times their proper 

 size, and all broken open and fissured in the most 

 shocking manner. No one who has not seen such 

 lepers as these can have any idea of what forms 

 human flesh can assume, and life yet remain in the 

 body. Suffering from such an incurable, loathsome 



