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T.W. Paterson: Holidaying among the lepers

Right up until modern times, leprosy’s unfortunate victims were treated as outcasts, or worse.
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D’Arcy Island is no leper colony today. (Photo courtesy of Mapcarta.com)

Right up until modern times, leprosy’s unfortunate victims were treated as outcasts, or worse.

For years, D’Arcy Island, off Sidney, was a leper colony. For years B.H. Smith was Collector of Customs for Nanaimo. How the two came together was the subject of Smith’s vacation yarn, back in August 1900.

For those unfamiliar with this dismal chapter in B.C. history, it was long the policy to exile lepers — even the word has an accusing malevolence — rather than address these hapless souls as they were in fact, victims of an ages-old, pernicious disease that was untreatable until the advent of antibiotics. In this province, two lazarettos, or leper colonies, were established on out-of-the-way D’Arcy and Bentinck islands.

Twice-monthly, a boat employed by the City of Victoria (funded by the province), called at D’Arcy with fresh meat and to check on the ‘patients.’ Quarterly, a ship called with staples, tobacco (apparently their only luxury) and a doctor. It was while on board the bi-weekly vessel, commanded by his friend Capt. Johnson, that Smith visited D’Arcy during his holidays.

It’s unlikely that he ever forgot what he saw that summer day.

At the time of his memorable visit there were five Chinese confined to the island, four of whom shared a six-room cabin, and a sixth, the brother of a wealthy merchant, who enjoyed the privacy of his own quarters and who completely ignored his fellow prisoners.

A year before, Johnson told Smith, this man had moved from Victoria to Sidney, apparently hoping to escape detection by health officers. It was Capt. Johnson who, during a call at Sidney, recognized and reported him. Taken into custody, he was examined, declared to have the dreaded disease and consigned to D’Arcy Island.

He hadn’t forgotten or forgiven the mariner for blowing the whistle on him and, more than once, had threatened to kill Johnson if ever he had the chance. Consequently, Johnson carried a double-barrelled shotgun when he called at D’Arcy. On this particular day, as their boat touched shore, the man made straight for them.

Raising his shotgun, Johnson ordered him to halt and his fellow patients urged him to fall back. Instead, he continued his advance and Collector Smith, perhaps alarmed for his own safety as well as that of his friend, began scouring the beach for a club.

The crisis passed momentarily when the man simply demanded that Johnson provide him with two bits’ worth of opium. Although legal at that time, opium was banned on the island. Johnson reminded him of this fact but promised to bring it up before the Health Officer in Victoria; if he consented to the request, Johnson would bring some with him on his next trip.

Smith described the unfortunate man as “a good looking, vigorous young man — the only appearance of leprosy being the dark spots which cover his face, neck and other exposed portions of his body.”

Not so the patient from Nanaimo whose disease was in a more advanced state around his neck, causing him to spend much of his time gurgling so as to alleviate the pain. He had but recently come to terms with his terminal illness, having previously been, in Johnson’s words, “very unruly and disagreeable”. Now he read from a Chinese edition of Pilgrim’s Progress. “He spends a great part of his time in reading this work and seems to be greatly taken up with it. Anyway, he is a changed man, being very easy to get along with.”

Besides these two men there were patients from Vancouver, Steveston and Kamloops. Of the 11 graves of previous inhabitants of the island, only one was that of a non-Asian.

Collector Smith noted the weed-free state of their vegetable gardens and that they didn’t seem to be bothered by cut-worms. They had a good supply of firewood, neatly stacked and at the ready. They had chickens and, originally, had raised hogs until their fondness for suckling pork had overtaken their patience and resulted in no reproductive adults.

All in all, with their generous supply of tobacco, Smith thought that everything possible was being done “to make their life as cheerful as possible”.

He did have one concern, however. He pointed out that D’Arcy Island wasn’t clearly posted as a leper colony. Signboards, he suggested, should advise anyone landing there of the fact.

Also known as Hansen’s Disease, leprosy (Mycobacterium lepros) is defined as being a chronic, communicable disease caused by a mircoorganism that’s characterized by nodoular skin lesions, nerve paralysis and physical mutilation. Right up until modern times, its unfortunate victims were treated as outcasts, or worse.

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