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 
