338 A MISSION TO VITI. 
the poisonous smoke. ‘The door is then closed and his 
friends retire a little distance, whilst the poor sufferer 
is left to cry and shout and plead from the midst of the 
suffocating stream ; but he is often allowed to remain 
for hours, and finally faints away. When he is thought 
sufficiently smoked the fire is removed, the slime scraped 
from the body, and deep gashes cut into the skin until 
the blood flows freely. ‘The leper is now taken down 
and laid on his mats to await the result. In some cases 
death—in many, life and health. Wiliami had under- 
gone this fearful process. He had taken some of the 
youths of the place, and on his way to the smoking- 
house told them his pitiable condition, his shame as an 
outcast, and his willingness to suffer anything to obtain 
a cure, and much would depend on their firmness. They 
were not to be moved by his groans and cries, and for 
the love they bore him he begged them to do the ope- 
ration well, and threatened to punish them if they per- 
formed it only half. Imagine the scene! They proceed 
to the lonely house. Wiliami’s companions, as much 
afraid of overdoing as underdoing their sad task, leave 
the poor leper drawn up by his heels in the midst of a 
thick black smoke; they retire to some distance, and 
presently are horrified by his piteous cries and groans. 
Some weep, some run home, others rush into the smo- 
king-house to take him down; but, with Spartan-like 
endurance, he commands them not to terminate his suf- 
fering until the process is complete. At last they take 
him down—he is faint and exhausted—the operation 
has been successful. Wiliami is no longer a leper, but 
again walks God’s earth a healthy man. 
