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likely to precipitate them into the depths below.
A path of planks has been laid to the edge of one
of the openings, the more readily to enable the
natives to obtain the water, which, as may well be
inferred, is brackish and unpleasant to the taste
and thoroughly impregnated with animal and
vegetable matter, vast masses of the latter being
in a constant state of decay.
The climate can scarcely be otherwise than
salubrious and healthful. The southeast trades
from October to April blow fresh at the
beginning and end of the season. During our
stay in December they were moderately strong, and
the weather continued exceedingly pleasant. For
the remainder of the year the winds are
uncertain, westerly prevailing perhaps; the
weather is changeable, and there is abundance of
rain. Electric storms are unknown.
A psychrometrical record taken both on board ship,
and to a very limited extent ashore, accompanies
this report; as also a copy of the meteorological
record from the ship's log during our stay at the
island. In the latter the figures in the column
"wet bulb" are not entirely reliable, by reason of
the inadequate nature of the cotton siphon, which
consists merely of a few strands of ordinary lamp
wick and does not cover the bulb.
With the exception of the two craters of Rana Kao
and Rana
Roraka, the bottoms of which form lakes, as
already stated, and which are isolated and far
from the habitations, there is no decaying
vegetable matter to be found worthy of note, and
the island may therefore be said to be free from
malaria and the diseases of paludal origin.
During the rainy season an occasional case of
remittent appears, but it is of mild type;
medication is not resorted to, and recovery takes
place when dry weather sets in. So healthful is
the climate, so simple are the habits of the
people, and so isolated are they from contact with
the outer world, and consequently, the numberless
malign influences which there hold sway, that
diseases of any kind are very rare among the Rapa
Nuiis, and they seem to be exempt from the
ordinary ills of humanity. There are no
"medicine men" among them, and they have no
pharmacopoeia worthy the mention.
During
inclement weather a trifling "cough" - occasionally
a case of pneumonia - a mild attack
of rheumatism, may appear, and mention is also
made of cerebral neuralgia. During our visit
there was not, to the best of our knowledge, a
case of acute disease on the island.
It is stated that from May to October occasional
cases of asthma show themselves, which the
natives attribute to eating deep-water fish
which have fed on a certain marine plant, the name
of which the writer was unable to ascertain. This
may be taken as delusion; and it may be
mentioned in this place that a well-marked
case of asthma, in the person of one of the
Mohican's firemen, was notably worse and
suffered severely during the entire period of our
stay at the island.
A disease of the soles of the feet, which the
natives called kino
consisting, according to their statements, as understood,
of fissures and
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