 in a city, are gallanted to the
Zoological Gardens.
    All this gave us a fine opportunity of making observations. I was painfully
struck by the considerable number of sickly or deformed persons; undoubtedly
made so by a virulent complaint, which, under native treatment, almost
invariably affects, in the end, the muscles and bones of the body. In
particular, there is a distortion of the back, most unsightly to behold,
originating in a horrible form of the malady.
    Although this, and other bodily afflictions, were unknown before the
discovery of the islands by the whites, there are several cases found of the
Fa-Fa, or Elephantiasis - a native disease, which seems to have prevailed among
them from the earliest antiquity. Affecting the legs and feet alone, it swells
them, in some instances, to the girth of a man's body, covering the skin with
scales. It might be supposed that one thus afflicted would be incapable of
walking; but, to all appearance, they seem to be nearly as active as anybody;
apparently suffering no pain, and bearing the calamity with a degree of
cheer-fulness truly marvellous.
    The Fa-Fa is very gradual in its approaches, and years elapse before the
limb is full swollen. Its origin is ascribed by the natives to various causes;
but the general impression seems to be that it arises, in most cases, from the
eating of unripe bread-fruit and Indian turnip. So far as I could find out, it
is not hereditary. In no stage do they attempt a cure; the complaint being held
incurable.
    Speaking of the Fa-Fa, reminds me of a poor fellow, a sailor, whom I
afterward saw at Roorootoo, a lone island, some two days' sail from Tahiti.
    The island is very small, and its inhabitants nearly extinct. We sent a boat
off to see whether any yams were to be had, as formerly the yams of Roorootoo
were as famous among the islands round about, as Sicily oranges in the
Mediterranean. Going ashore, to my surprise, I was accosted, near a little
shanty of a church, by a white man, who limped forth from a wretched hut. His
hair and beard were unshorn, his face deadly pale and haggard, and one limb
swelled with the Fa-Fa to an incredible bigness. This was the first instance of
a foreigner suffering from it that I had ever seen or heard of; and the
spectacle shocked me accordingly.
    He had been there for years. From the first symptoms, he could not believe
his complaint to be
