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Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 1, Issue 2, 19 January 1849, Page 2

[lt has been deemed advantageous lo republish the former portion of the paper upon Small Pox; in order that, a document of so much importance to humanity may not fail of effect by its division. It' is, therefore, now given in its entirety.] Letter to the Natives of New Zealand. My Fuiknds,—There prevails in almost every country in the world n Mai and disgusting sickness called Small Pox. The Governor has hren afraid for some lime that this disease would break out among you, and he has therefore come to the determination lo endeavour to pievent such a misfortune taking plac in New Zealand. To make vou invaris" of the danger you are in from snvill p"X, and the necessity tliere

. exists for what he is aboul to do, Hie OoverZ nor has instructed me to write this letter to you j in which you will learn where small 4\>ox first appeared ; how it spread over I lie world ; ami also about the remedy which the Governor is to introduce, so as to protect you Lffour children from »m<ill pox. M me first tell you how the disease attacks ■rson. >iption of a Person Sick'with Small ■•'or two or three days, the person who ,t to have the small pox lias severe pain <ack and the head, the mind wanders, ick and vomits, the skin is hot. On the second or third day of tils'! illness a great number o( smnll red points appear; first on the face and wrists, then on the neck, body, a-ms, aud legs; sometimes on the inside 'rf the mouth and nose. In three days those fed points grow larger, and become about this size ©. The swellings are now fitled with : something like water, and they have a small depression in their centres. On the sixth day from the appearance of the eruption, the swellings are at their greatest size, and the watery lluid in lliein becomes of . a yellow colour. On the seventh day they burst, nnd discharge a nasty matter. In about twelve days moro the discharge fiom llie spellings stop, the swellings become .Iry, and the sobs fall oil', leaving ugly murks on i the skin, which marks never disappear. These marks are almost always most numerous and ! • more ugly on the face than on any other part •♦■•of the body. Sometimes there are only a few hundred of these spots on the body, but generally there are many thousands; so that a person ill with small pox, on the filth day of the eruption, can often neiiber sec out of his eyes, speak with his tongue, or lake food into his mo'ith j and so swollen is the face, that a father can with difficulty know his own Shild, or a wife her lujgund. arc so painful, that a sick person cannot sleep ; nnd as the sores are over the whole body, ho cannot either stand or lie , dnwn in any posture without pain. The discharge 'ram the sores is so disgusting, tli.it it is only the kindest friends that cm be brought to attend a person ill with small pox ; and to convince you of this 1 regret to tell you, that n wife has been known to run away from her husband, nnd a mother from her child, during [ the sickness from small pox. ; ' If you go near, or touch a person ill with small pox, you are in great danger of taking the discus-, aud by this means it has spread among men. 'j After yon have lud the small pox once, you >■ very seldom have the disease again, even if :, you touch or attend on a person ill with ihe ~ disease. Out of every four persons who a'e ntt irked with small pox, and have mi iiiotlic.il treatment, <>ne die? ; aud m my who recover have 1 the beauty of the fare destroyed for ever ; and in bad cases the sight of one or both .eyes is lost, and the ear is rendered deaf. Xf But you in ly say, where is the dnngcr of this disease coming among us ? This 1 will „cxt icll you.

Umo and in what Country small voxJlrU appeared : About 1500 years ago (a. n SGO) a great war was carried'on between two races of men living in a country called Ugypl. At a cer- ' tain town in tliii country, a Inrge .Tiny was assembled lo fight the inliabitants. and every ' one expected to see the town and the penp'e destroyed by the enemy. One day, a so'dicr wa< taken ill : next day, more were taken id ; and, in n few d.iys>, Iliesickncss spread among the soldiers —the discaie was sniall p'>x. The fighting men, who never feared death, in battle were struck with terror ut the small pox ; they lied from the town where the diseJse originated, and, by scattering themselves over the country, they carried the small pox in every direction. AVith the exception of New Zealand, nnd u few small islands, the inhabitants of every country in the world have sufl'ered from small yiox. For your instruction, and lo convince yon of the danger you are in from this disease, I will now >ell you bow the small pox first spread to races of inun, living as you now ive. k How the Small Pox first appeared in England. .—lt is from h'nglaiid thatmoslof the strangers .among you linve come. Several hundred ,e years ago, most of the people living in lingland could neiihrr read nor write j they went about almost nuked, and they Mere constantly carrying on "arswith each other. Christiun i strangers came anion;; them, as we have fume V among you, and they got them to do away vith many of their evil works. Kngland is like New Zealand, separate 1 from all olh> r countries by water. It is a ■ lung dis'anco from l'-gypt, where the small ■ pox first appeared. 'J lie small pox took three liumlrc I ycnis,

fifteen generations (a i>. !)07), before it pass?d tVorc Ktrvpt over Kurope, and c.ime to lingland. Wlio iil did reacli England it sp?e;id willi great qui:kness from town to town. Many thousands of men, women, und children died from the disease; and ever sinci: llml lime, until n remedy for preventing sin i!l pox wis found out, it mused I lie death uf thousands of people every year in Kngland. flow Smalt Pox first spread to Ameiiea. — Ameriua is a large cmntry, long distant from Europe, in which division of the world ICugliuil is placed. The winds blow "troug on the sea between the two countries, The races of men living in K trope did not know that there wns such n plucn as America until stimuli seventeen generations ago (350 year 3, A. n. 1402), when a Hold siilor, cilled Colombus, sailed directly across the sea, and found out this lar.;o country. In Amerii'ii ho saw numerous tribes of men> with dark skin aid long black hair. They did nol tattoo their frees ; they spoke different languages. Sonic of the tribes could read and write, nnd lived in line house* ; hut the greater portion of the other tribes went .ib ml the country naked, and were lika wild dogs, having no houses to live in, noi did they cultivate the soil. The tribes in America received the first strangers who arrive I from Iviro.ie kindly; they gave them food and oilier articles in exchange for lood. *" The strangers returned to Rurone, and they told many people about the largo country they had found, and the new tribes of men tli.it livid in it. The consequence wis, that numerous ship* sailed from Kuiope to trade with America. For twenty-five years (one generation of men by your estimate) trade and friendly intercourse was carried on between the Kulopeans and llie naive tribes of Ameii-n. One day a ship arrived from Ivirope, bavin,' on board a person i'l with the sina'l pox. The tribes in America having no real friend to tell them about the danger they were in, allowed thu strangers fioiu th : s sliij) to go about among them as usual. At hut one of iho tribe was attacked wiih the smiill pox, and from this pcr'cm it spread over tlu country, destroying thousands, anil in iking others miser'hie for life. .Since th.it time small pix has killed many entire trill's in America. In one particular put of America, called Mexico, the e lived a gre..t lib'- Their country being distant from the. sea, and the chief town UiiU up ninmig the hills, the tribe thought that the small p>x coal.l not come among them. The smill p>x spread, however, from town to town, no mountain or river could clu-ck i', an I at l**t it broke out in Mexico, v.here, in a very short tinu, it killed three millions of people. After reading all iliis, perhaps sime of you will say to yourselves; here we are, a small island, long distant fr mi these plac.s, with a few tribes of men, wide'y scattered, yurelv the small pox cmiiot cone ninnriif ns. If the disease (you niiy sn) hal been to cime. it would have been over long before this lime; for we have traded with strangers for two genei.-itiom ; we have been taught to reial and write, and to become Christians by them, and yet we have not got the small pox; how should it come now among ti<?

To show you that this is foolish talk, I will now 1 tell >ou how small p»x appeared in a small country, long Uislani from any otlicr place in the world. How and when Small Pox appeared in Iceland. —Iceland is an island long distant from anv oilier country.. It is not so larsje as your country ; the people are poor, mid live chiefly on fish. There are about fifty thousand men, women, and children in the iMand. They are like you, scattered over the country. For six hundred years the inhnbitanu of Iccliind carried on trade and frienily iniercourse with counlii.'s where swill p?x was. In their hearts, I have no doubt, the people thought as some of you now think, that having escaped the disease so long, it never could come among them ; hut in this opinion they inj:!i! a sad mistake About one hundred and fifty year? ago the small.' pox was brought by some u.earis from Kurope to Iccl nd, null in a few months it destroyed eighteen thousand people. Terror and despair pievailed among the natives for some time; but this gradually wore out of their minds, and no care was taken to prevent the small pox appearing aenin. A new generation were liv ng in the island when small pox again broke on', and eleven thousand persons died frinn the disease. Since this last appearance of small pox the people have taken means to protect themselves, mid t'> prevent another nttnek of the dis-.-ine. Again, you may say, these coimtr'es are nil lur distant from u»~. I Us small p"X e.cr appeared in any colony near our islaii-i 1 It bus done so, and 1 will now tell you about it. Hoiv and when Small Pox liisl appeared in Australia. Australia is a lnrge country about twelve hundred miles from you. Tliu men who live in this country are, like you, iiiio

numerous lribi'3. They have no chief like you in any tribe, nor do lliey pill any valim on lam), because they vcrv sc'ilom cullivu'" fie soil. They do nut build lioikc, lint Wander about trom place to place. Thev ki<! very ignor.u>t. su.ii tVw of ilium have become Christians. Tho*o tribes on ihe sea coasts live on fish and oysters, but Mic tr'be.s in the interior live on the ion's n( trei s, si-iiE il c wil I animals which are found in tin: woods. The men nml women have dark skins, long black h ir, thia bodies, anil la-g-3 Imvir jivvs; they do n-t talto their frees.

Ahout two goner.linns ngo (1783) eleven hundred stiangers nnived at a place in All*tralia Called Sydney. Here a laru'e tr'.ui: onco lived, not to eu'tivnte the Ini.d, hilt to eat the fish and the oyster* furni-hel by the sea. Tho strangi rs arrived at Sydney from England in six ships. They ivir< eight months on the sea, mid much sickness > <■- rur e.l duiing the voyage, and a'so alter lliey laud.d at Sydney. About a year after their arrival at Sydney (I "89) sma:l pox broke out anion.; l v .e native tribe living there. Tho triLe. never having h'Mril of or seen such a disease, were struck with .terror, and fled into tho interior ot* the land. I regret to tell \ oti that on many occasions the men (led from their friends who were atticked with small fox, and they left them to certain death; for if they recovered of the small pox they died of a want of loud, because no one would comt; near them to give them food, for fear of getting the sni'dl po*. This tribe was almost entirely ilea'roved by the smull pox. The few who survived a.lopted some of the bad habits of tl.tf s'rangcrs, si:ch as drinking s|>irit <■. A great number of them would not labour fcr ilnir daily brend ; ihe ronsecjiience way, that sickness appeared anion.: them. The men be.'anlo weak, and the nomen were often childless; and although only two generations (GO yens) have elapsed since tho small pox first appeared nmong them, such misery liai followed the disease and the drinking of spirit', that there are very few now alive. 1 cannot tell you whether the small pox spread among all the tiibes of men living in Australia, because no iieis'ui has written it down ; but I have reason In believe that it did spread, because old men have bpcn pe.cn, high up the country, having their faces disfigured by the maiks of small pox. I will now ttll jon how very nearly tin disease was brought into New Zealand. Small Pox nearly brought into A'eie Zealand. Six months ago a ship itrrived tit Auckland with slMiiuers to selt'e nmong you. About thrre hundred people were on hoard the ship. The email pox had broken out among them at sea, and atticked all the ! children who had not had the remedy to ' prevent small pox, which I shall now tell ymi I about. For y days before the ship arrive.l at ' Auckland 'he last case of small pi.x occwrsil, and the child was only well fourteen d«y< ' before the ship an ived at Now '<£■ idniid. Here you had ft narrow escape, but who can tell ' that you nny again be so fortunate. // short account of the remedy to prevent Small Pox-, and that which is to he introdu.ed . umong yo'i. Por thirteen hundred years small pox pro- ' duced death and misery in,every part nl the ' world where it appeared. The physii iaus in , every country endeavoured 'o find out a cure j for it ; but this they could not find. They therefore endeavoured to prevent a pers m ' getting the small pox. This a<oat discovery ' was made about fifty years ago (!7!Ki) by a ! physician of the name of Jenner, This doctor observed, that on the uddtrs of . fome cows a small sure was often found, and ) that the people who m'lked th<*s3 cows had often sores on their hands, and that they 'never t had small pox, nlthough all their liiends were taking the disease around tlitiu. I The doctor found out, after long enquiry, i that the sores on the hands were produced by t touching the sores on the cows udders, and I that this sore on the hands prevented tlu-m t having small pox. I

The doctor took a lit'le of the matter from the sorea.oi) ; Htecows udders, nn<l put it under the sk'tt'io'f n person who never had llie .small |iox';"a small sore grew on the place where this was done, null it was found lli;il no person who had this done, almost ever had the email pox. It is not necessary to tnke llie mailer always from llie sores mi "he cows udders ; a little taken from the tore which this mailer produces on a pi rson's arm, will the same sore to anoilu.r person, and prevent the small pox. After it was found ihut such a simple operation pi evented such a dreadful disease as the smnll pox, almost every person in Kurnpe was, as it is called, varciu.iled ; and v.iciiuution was also performed on all children shortly nfii-r they wPre born. In ciwmiis win re this is carefully done thousands of lives are i. and in many countries vaccinatum has ji 'riven small pox away. /L ' i, a small island under the pro- / 'and (ha<in£u large population, •nice resembling you), small ■iv filial. The (■'iivenmr "•■• the inli liil.iuls, lint

be done. By tlpgro-s their eyes were opened to the advantage of v.icc in.i'ion, and thottsnnds of peisons were vaccinated. The consi-rj'ieiic) is, that fur nearly f Tty years small pox has been a rare disease nniong the tribes in Ceylon. Vaccination is the nnlv remedy to prevent small pox. It is ihis which tlie Governor h to introduce nm>ii'.j yen. It is done by putting a small quantity of matter below the skin ol ilu: arm. It is not .so painful as making n tattoo in irk. It is dona in a minute, and iif.o. - it is done, you can cat, drink, sleep, nnil wo'k without any troub'c. The Governor proposes to teach sonic of yinnstlve* to vaccinate ; and after they hive learned how to do it, he will send thrm to vaccinate all youY men, women, and children nmv |ivin;{. A'tur yo'i have g>t voursdves vaccinated, you imi-t be cirif.l of the matter, nml as ebililp n are Imrne, vou will vaccinate them. In niter yens, when you know nmr. 4 llia'i you now know, 1 liav*- no doubt you will often ■my, tliat the (Jovernrr who introduced vaceiiiuton was a tried frii ml. /^r