In referring to the few indigenous diseases he adds:
But this was before the arrival of the Europeans; for we have added to this short category a disease which abundantly supplies the place of all the others; and is now almost universal [syphilis]. For this they seem to have no effectual remedy. The priests, indeed, sometimes give them a medley of simples; but they own that it never cures them, and yet, they allow that, in a few cases, nature, without the assistance of a physician, exterminates the poison of this fatal disease, and perfect recovery is produced. They say that a man affected with it will often communicate it to others in the same house, by feeding out of the same utensils, or handling them, and that, in this case, they frequently die, while he recovers; though we see no reason why this should happen.
On his fourth voyage to the Society Islands Captain Cook learned to what fearful extent syphilis had spread throughout all of the islands of the group and became aware what ravages it had caused among the natives. On visiting new islands he did all in his power to protect the natives against this scourge by excluding all women visitors from the ship and by strictly enjoining persons known to be infected from landing. On the probable effects of these new regulations he comments:
Whether these regulations, dictated by humanity, had the desired effect, or no, time only can discover. I had been equally attentive to the same object when I first visited the Friendly Islands; yet I afterward found, with real concern, that I had not succeeded, and I am afraid that this will always be the case, in such voyages as ours, whenever it is necessary to have a number of people on shore.
A CASE OF FAR-ADVANCED LEPROSY AFFECTING ALL LIMBS
Massage as a remedial agent in the treatment of disease originated in the Orient, and the Tahitians were familiar with it and frequently made use of it. On this subject Captain Cook can speak from personal experience. During his stay in Tahiti in 1777 he suffered evidently from a severe attack of sciatica, the pain extending from the hip to the toes. King Otoo's mother, his three sisters and eight more women came on his ship one evening for the purpose of giving him treatment and remained all night to fulfill their well-meant mission. Here is the account of the treatment to which he was subjected by the women:
I accepted the kindly offer, had a bed spread for them upon the cabin floor, and submitted myself to their directions. I was desired to lay myself down amongst them. Then, as many of them as could get around me, began to squeeze me with both hands, from head to foot, but more particularly on the parts where the pain was lodged, till they made my bones crack, and my flesh became a perfect mummy. In short, after undergoing this discipline about a quarter of an hour, I was glad to get away from them. However, the operation gave me immediate relief, which encouraged me to submit to another rubbing down before I went to bed; and it was so efficient that I found myself pretty easy all the night after. My female physicians repeated their prescription the next morning, before they went ashore, and again in the evening, when they returned on board; after which, I found the pains entirely removed, and the cure being perfected, they took leave of me the following morning. This they call romee, an operation which, in my opinion, far exceeds the flesh-brush, or anything of the kind that we make use of externally. It is universally practised amongst the islanders, being sometimes performed by men, but more generally by women.
PHYSICIANS IN TAHITI
Tahiti is not an Eldorado for doctors. The entire island has only eleven thousand inhabitants and the great majority of them are too poor to pay for medical services. The only place in Tahiti where a doctor can be found is in Papeete. At the time I visited the island there was only one physician in private practice in the capital city, Dr. Chassaniol, a retired naval surgeon, the only private practitioner in the whole group of islands. The bulk of medical practice is in the hands of the government physician, always a military man who has at the same time charge of the Military Hospital and takes care of the sick poor, and supervises all matters pertaining to sanitation. The only other physicians in the island are the naval surgeons on board a small man-of-war almost constantly anchored in the harbor of Papeete. The government physician is privileged to practice outside of the hospital, and from this source he receives the bulk of his income. As the resident physician and the government physician are the only qualified physicians in the whole archipelago, it requires no stretch of the imagination to realize that until the present time the French government has not made adequate provisions for their subjects who require the services of a physician.