A LEPER OF TAHITI
The Tahitians have not lost their faith in their Kahunas or native doctors, who without any medical knowledge, practice their art. These men, with a local reputation as healers of disease, are to be found in nearly every village. They are well thought of and are influential members of society in their respective communities. Like the medicine-men of our Indians, they make use of roots, bark and herbs as remedial agents, and the natives, like many of our own people, have more faith in this mysterious kind of medication than in modern, concentrated, palatable drugs prescribed by the most eminent physician. To the credit of these native medicine-men, it must be said that they give to all afflicted who apply for treatment not only their services, but also the medicines without any expectation of a financial reward or even the gratitude of their clients.
HÔPITAL MILITAIRE
The military hospital at Papeete is the only one in the French colonial possession of the Society Islands, numbering one hundred and sixty-eight islands and containing thirty thousand inhabitants, of whom eleven thousand live in Tahiti. As some of these islands are more than one hundred miles apart, it is somewhat strange that the French government has not taken earlier action in establishing small cottage hospitals in a number of the larger islands, as in case of severe injuries or sudden illness the natives of the distant islands are not within reach of timely medical aid and the transportation of a sick or injured person to Papeete from the far-off islands or villages by small schooners or canoes is necessarily slow and in many instances dangerous. The Sanitary Commission now stationed in the islands will, it is to be hoped, act promptly in remedying this serious defect in the care of the sick natives.
MILITARY HOSPITAL IN PAPEETE
The Military Hospital at Papeete is an old structure of brick and cement, situated near the western limits of the city in a large square yard inclosed by a high stone wall, surmounted by a crest of fragments of glass, which imparts to the inclosure a prison-like appearance, the austerity of which, however, is much relieved by beautiful tropical trees, shrubbery and flowers in front of the entrance and in the courtyard. The hospital proper comprises seven buildings, only one of which is two stories high. The hospital has accommodations for forty beds. The officers' rooms contain two beds each; the remaining space is divided into small wards for privates and civilians. In one ward, the windows of which are strongly barred, are kept the military prisoners, and another small ward is devoted to obstetrical cases. The rooms and wards are well ventilated and clean, the beds comfortable; the hospital furniture otherwise is scanty and antique. The drug-room is large, richly supplied with capacious jars, mortars of all sizes, herbs, roots and a complete outfit for making infusions, decoctions and tinctures, which reminds one very vividly of an apothecary shop of half a century ago. This department is in charge of a pharmacist who, besides mixing drugs, does some chemical and bacteriological work in a small and imperfectly equipped laboratory. The operating-room is an open passageway between two adjoining wards, and all it contained suggestive of its use were an operating table of prodigious size and decidedly primitive construction, and, suspended from the wall, a tin irrigator, to which was attached a long piece of rubber tubing of doubtful age. The hospital is well supplied with water, and contains a bathroom, a shower-bath and modern closets. The hospital is in charge of the government physician, who is always a medical officer of the colonial troops, detailed for this special service, usually for a period of three years. From the official reports I gleaned that on an average this institution takes care of about three hundred and fifty patients a year. At the time of my visit the number of patients did not exceed fifteen, among them one in the prison ward. All of the patients were the subjects of trifling affections, with the exception of three cases of typhoid fever sent to the hospital from one of the atoll islands. The patients are being cared for by three Catholic sisters and orderlies as they are needed. The poor are admitted gratuitously; private patients pay from six to fifteen francs a day. The hospital is beautifully located on the principal street of the city and faces the charming little harbor. A small private hospital for the foreign residents and tourists is needed here and under proper management would prove a remunerative investment.
THE ISLAND OF PLENTY
O Christ! it is a goodly sight to see
What heaven hath done for this delicious land.
BYRON.