This forlorn
malady, called here Chinese leprosy, in the cases that I have seen,
confers nothing of the white, scaly look attributed to Syrian
leprosy; but the face is red, puffed, bloated, and shining, and the
eyes glazed, and I am told that in its advanced stage the swollen
limbs decay and drop off. It is a fresh item of the infinite curse
which has come upon this race, and with Molokai in sight the
Hesperides vanished, and I ceased to believe that the Fortunate
Islands exist here or elsewhere on this weary earth.
My destination was the industrial training and boarding school for
girls, taught and superintended by two English ladies of Miss
Sellon's sisterhood, Sisters Mary Clara and Phoebe; and I found it
buried under the shade of the finest candlenut trees I have yet
seen. A rude wooden cross in front is a touching and fitting emblem
of the Saviour, for whom these pious women have sacrificed friends,
sympathy, and the social intercourse and amenities which are within
daily reach of our workers at home. The large house, which is
either plastered stone or adobe, contains the dormitories, visitors'
room, and oratory, and three houses at the back, all densely shaded,
are used as schoolroom, cook-house, laundry, and refectory.
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