LEPROSY 



245 



the town or its neighbourhood, and who still retained 

 their florid complexions ; the plump and fresh appear- 

 ance of many of the middle-aged Santarem ladies, also 

 bore testimony to the healthfulness of the climate. The 

 streets are always clean and dry, even in the height of the 

 wet season ; good order is always kept, and the place 

 pretty well supplied with provisions. None but those 

 who have suffered from the difficulty of obtaining the 

 necessaries of life at any price in most of the interior settle- 

 ments of South America, can appreciate the advantages 

 of Santarem in this respect. Everything, however, except 

 meat, was dear, and becoming every year more so. Sugar, 

 coffee, and rice, which ought to be produced in surplus in 

 the neighbourhood, are imported from other provinces 

 and are high in price ; sugar indeed, is a little dearer here 

 than in England. There were two or three butchers' 

 shops, where excellent beef could be had daily at twopence 

 or twopence-halfpenny per pound. The cattle have not 

 to be brought from a long distance as at Para, being bred 

 on the campos, which border the Lago Grande, only one 

 or two days' journey from the town. Fresh fish could be 

 bought in the port on most evenings, but, as the supply 

 did not equal the demand, there was always a race amongst 

 purchasers to the water-side when the canoe of a fisherman 

 hove in sight. Very good bread was hawked around the 

 town every morning, with milk, and a great variety of 

 fruits and vegetables. Amongst the fruits, there was 

 a kind called atta, which I did not see in any other part 

 of the country. It belongs to the Anonaceous order, and 

 the tree which produces it grows apparently wild in the 

 neighbourhood of Santarem. It is a little larger than a 

 good-sized orange, and the rind, which encloses a mass 

 of rich custardy pulp, is scaled like the pine-apple, but 

 green when ripe, and encrusted on the inside with sugar. 

 To finish this account of the advantages of Santarem, 

 the delicious bathing in the clear waters of the Tapajos 

 may be mentioned. There is here no fear of alligators ; 

 when the east wind blows, a long swell rolls in on the clean 

 sandy beach, and the bath is most exhilarating. 



There is one great drawback to the merits of Santarem. 

 This is the prevalence here of the terrible leprosy. It 

 seems, however, confined to certain families, and I did 

 not hear of a well-authenticated case of a European being 

 attacked by it. I once visited many of the lepers in 



