It is curious that, although
prevalent in many places on the Solimoens, no resident of Ega
exhibited signs of the disease: the early explorers of the
country, on noticing spotted skins to be very frequent in certain
localities, thought they were peculiar to a few tribes of
Indians. The younger children in these houses on the Sapo were
free from spots; but two or three of them, about ten years of
age, showed signs of their commencement in rounded yellowish
patches on the skin, and these appeared languid and sickly,
although the blotched adults seemed not to be affected in their
general health. A middle-aged half-caste at Fonte Boa told me he
had cured himself of the disorder by strong doses of
sarsaparilla; the black patches had caused the hair of his beard
and eyebrows to fall off, but it had grown again since his cure.
When my tall friend saw me, after dinner, collecting insects
along the paths near the houses, he approached, and, taking me by
the arm, led me to a mandioca shed, making signs, as he could
speak very little Tupi, that he had something to show.
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