Note 165-1 — CHAP. V.

This seems to be the earliest description of Yaws (Frambœsia) in these islands. Originating in Africa this contagious disease is believed to have been disseminated by the slave trade. The Dutch or Portuguese traders carried it from Madagascar and East Africa to Ceylon, where it still bears the name of Parangi Lede, or Foreigners' Evil. Though Hamilton did not observe it in the South Sea Islands the disease was probably there, for Mariner, who was in Tonga in 1810, described it as a well-established disease under the name of Tona.