LA VÉRETTE. Two Years in the French West Indies | ||
XIII.
February 23d.
A COFFIN passes, balanced on the heads of black men. It holds the body of Pascaline Z—, covered with quick-lime.
She was the prettiest, assuredly, among the pretty shopgirls
… And they are all going thus, the beautiful women of color. In the opinion of physicians, the whole generation is doomed. … Yet a curious fact is that the young children of octoroons are suffering least: these women have their children vaccinated,— though they will not be vaccinated themselves. I see many brightly colored children, too, recovering from the disorder: the skin is not pitted, like that of the darker classes; and the rose-colored patches finally disappear altogether, leaving no trace.
… Here the sick are wrapped in banana leaves, after having been smeared with a certain unguent. … There is an immense demand for banana leaves. In ordinary times these leaves—especially the younger ones, still unrolled, and tender and soft beyond any fabric possible for man to make—are used for poultices of all kinds, and sell from one to two sous each, according to size and quality.
LA VÉRETTE. Two Years in the French West Indies | ||