the effect of stopping the men, who
seemed to be hesitating as to a course of action, until a somewhat
dignified retreat was made to an open space in the rear from where a
less dignified and a more hasty retreat began which did not stop short
of Bacalod.

Enough had been seen, however, even in this short visit, to give
convincing proof that the settlement visited was no colony of lepers;
so, that afternoon two servant boys being taken as guides and
interpreters, another attempt was made to reach the goal desired.

This attempt was successful, and, after about two hours of walking, a
little cluster of grass huts snugly hidden by the sea-coast came into
view. As we approached, one would have thought it a gala-day. Some few
children, apparently from six to thirteen years of age, almost wholly
nude, were romping and playing in the open space around which the huts
stood, and no one would ever have thought that any cloud so horrible
as leprosy could hover over a place apparently so happy.

By the side of the path as we passed was a man and his wife setting
out potato plants. His hands were so puffed and his fingers so short
that he could scarcely use them, but he was working along as best he
could. His wife's feet were so swollen and twisted that she walked
only with the greatest difficulty. We passed them by and entered the
open space above referred to.

The children now saw us, and those of them who could darted away like
frightened rabbits, each to his own burrow. An old man who was sitting
in the warm afternoon sun on the little bamboo platform before his hut
was aroused from his lethargic repose by the scampering away of the
children. He arose, trembling upon his tottering limbs, all drawn and
twisted, and hobbled away into his hut.

The children soon recovered from their fright and began to reappear at
the doors of the houses, from which now also came the men and women of
the settlement. In a few moments we were surrounded by a circle of
human beings at once so repulsive and so pitiable that its graphic
vividness can never be accurately portrayed.

The old man referred to above, having put on a pair of snow-white
pantaloons, appeared now at the doorway of his hut, followed a few
moments later by his wife who had evidently clothed herself in the
best raiment she had. At a call from the old man, all the men, women,
and children in the settlement came out of their huts and stood in a
line before us. The old man was