In 1883, the Seychelles was struck with an epidemic of smallpox. On June 5, 1883, HMS Undine arrived in Port Victoria from Zanzibar. Aboard the ship was a passenger who had contracted the virulent disease. Wrongfully diagnosed as chickenpox, the disease soon spread across town and suburban neighbourhoods killing dozens of people and creating panic among the population.
In her book ,“From the Tropics to the North Sea (1883),” Fanny Barkly, the wife of the Chief Civil Commissioner (Governor), Arthur Cecil Stuart Barkly (1843-1890) recounts her experience of the Smallpox outbreak in 1883.
I have reproduced below part of Chapter 21 of the book entitled ‘Our life during the quarantine for Small Pox”.
Our life during the quarantine for smallpox – by Fanny Barkly
“The Seychelles, though generally so healthy, are occasionally visited by an epidemic, which in these Islands takes a very virulent form, such as measles or chickenpox, and now began a terrible time of misery for these lovely islands. For seven months no one was allowed to leave Port Victoria in a mail steamer. Scarcely any ships would call there, so that provisions ran short, and famine was added to the terror of the epidemic. Here was a British colony dependent entirely for mails and transport upon a French Steamboat Company, under strictest quarantine regulations.
Chief Civil Commissioner (Governor), Barkly, of Heligoland with his wife’ (from a German newspaper, 1890)
A British man-of-war came in with most of her crew ill with various complaints, and among them, a case of what the Health Officer took for some infectious disease, but which other doctors pronounced to be virulent chickenpox , while others again declared it as smallpox, although some symptoms of the disease were wanting. But whatever the malady was, it proved infectious and fatal, for there were many deaths in the Islands.
This epidemic, called ‘La Verette’,*( see note below) soon spread very, very rapidly, and we were quarantined for smallpox by Madagascar, Mauritius, Zanzibar, Bourbon, Aden and all the other places near us. This caused endless trouble for my husband, and all the other officials, and the population generally.
The greatest excitement prevailed, as one family after another was attacked by the terrible disease. The bells tolled perpetually, and nothing was to be seen , but coffins passing. All Government work was suspended, as the workmen had to be employed continually to make coffins.
At Government House, we were in great danger, as the house is situated right in the middle of the town of Port Victoria. People used constantly to come up to the office of the Commissioner and to our house covered with smallpox.
My husband thought it right to keep the children and myself in town, as if we had all gone up to the hills, to escape the infection, it would have had the effect of considerably increasing the panic, and ,unfortunately, I had no one that I could trust to take charge of the children without me in the hills, the English nurse, whom I had brought from England, having left my service and gone home. The children’s faithful Creole nurse, Leonsine, was taken suddenly and was of the worst victims. She eventually recovered, but was always a terrible wreck of her former self. My husband and I used to go and see some of the cases, and endeavoured to assist the poor, by sending food to them.
Many of the Creoles were completely panic stricken and ran away, leaving their relations without provisions or water to battle all alone with this terrible disease, as best as they could. The epidemic became more and more virulent, as it gained a firmer footing in this tropical island, until at last, some cases of black smallpox appeared- the worst form of the complaint. Many of the scenes, which we saw or heard of, were too painful and harrowing a nature to be described here. So crushed and terrified were the inhabitants that they even left off planting their fields and gardens. Most of the shops were shut, and the owners escaped to the mountains, where, however, they were frequently overtaken by the terrible scourge.
The doctors were perfectly worn out before the end of epidemic, and the life of one of them, the Health Officer, was in great danger, from violence, he having , unfortunately admitted the original case into the harbour, by giving the ship practique. The poor man was constantly bullied and threatened in every way, so that my husband was obliged to protect him and his wife and child, with a string guard of police, as they dared not stir out alone.
To add to our misery, no ships would call at the islands, and provisions soon began to run out, all kinds of foods became scarce, there was no flour to be had, and rice soon rose to famine prices, while meat became an unheard of luxury, as the ships from Madagascar refused to touch; the turtle also, was not to be had, in fact, we were cut off from the world and from all supplies entirely.
Letters were often either lost, or not delivered at all, by the mail steamers. By this time, the treasury was almost empty, and my husband always insisted on paying the officials and police first, there was no money left for ourselves! This is not a fancy picture, dear reader, on the contrary, I cannot find words to describe the universal misery which reigned for many months.
At last, matters came to such a pass, that we had scarcely anything to eat, and we were obliged, in sheer desperation, to kill off one of the small tortoises ( not of course, one of those presented by the late General Gordon) , and we lived on this tortoise for three days. I have preserved the shell as a memento of what we endured during that trying time. My husband used to send the yacht to the outlying islands to get fowls, but they were scarce, as the owners naturally wanted to keep them, so that we were very thankful if the ‘Wave’ brought back any for us.
In the middle of all this, the newly appointed Governor of Mauritius, the late Sir John Pope Hennessy and his wife, arrived on their way to that island, and spent a day with us. They were much horrified at the state of affairs in general, and to find that we had not a penny to spend, and very little to eat. As soon as he arrived in Mauritius, Sir John sent down a sailing vessel loaded with rice, to relieve the famine among the poor people. We certainly suffered many and great privations, and in addition to that, were terribly anxious about our little children, whom we kept entirely in our grounds, as much away from the risk of infection as possible.
At this time. another doctor was sent down by the Governor of Mauritius to report on the epidemic, and there seemed to be no end to the articles in the newspapers, incessant trouble and perpetual correspondence with Mauritius, about it. While the smallpox was still raging, after six months of quarantine, Miss Marianne North , the celebrated flower painter and botanist, arrived, and came at our house , where she spent a month altogether……”
Note: The epidemic was in fact ”Lavaryol” derives from the French ‘La Variole’.
Read the full book online here:
Conclusion
This article gives us a very good picture of the hardship the Seychellois had to endure during the epidemic. It is also reported that The Board of Health imposed strict regulations pertaining to the burial of persons who died of the smallpox disease. The body had to be put into a coffin, the bottom of which was lined with a thick layer of quick lime or coarsely powdered charcoal. The shroud in which the body was wrapped had to be soaked with solution of hypochlorite of soda or carbolic acid, and the coffin then filled up with coarsely powdered charcoal and the lid duly fastened down.
Do you wish to learn more?
Should you wish to learn more about the historical account of this epidemic, please read Chapter 12 of William McAtter’s Book ‘Hard Times in Paradise’.
LEAVE A COMMENT
Your email address will not be published
