The ruins of Curieuse Island |05 January 2015

One outstanding feature of the Curieuse coastline is the beautifully carved granite boulders with their distinctive reddish colour. Many tourists visit the island for various reasons; its natural beauty, its protected fauna and for leisure. Compared to many other protected islands, Curieuse harbours a very rich, but sad history. It is worth visiting Curieuse as one gets to enjoy different aspects of nature in one single, beautiful location.

Near Anse José stands a majestic building which is in fact a national monument. The building serves as a documentation centre for the Seychelles National Parks Authority (SNPA). Many tourists disembark on the nearby shore to visit not only this beautiful monument, but also the many hidden ruins which are scattered along the island’s coast.

Many years ago, the ruins were home to a group of people serving a life sentence, not because of hideous crimes committed but because they had contracted a deadly disease known as leprosy. Back then leprosy could be compared to modern day diseases such as ebola or hepatitis. The main difference is that people with leprosy lived longer.

Leprosy is a disease caused by a bacterium, which causes disfiguration of the face, and results in loss of parts of toes and fingers. The disease also affects the nerves and muscles. This terrible chronic disease existed long before Christ and surprisingly still exists in countries in close proximity to Seychelles. In Madagascar there were 1572 new leprosy cases reported in 2009, while in Comoros there were 319.

Before a cure was discovered, lepers were shunned and feared by society. The lepers felt ashamed of their conditions and many lived a life of destitute and despair. In history, it was believed that leprosy was a curse from God, and that it was a disease contracted while engaging in ungodly acts. To prevent the spread of the disease, lepers were placed under quarantine in places known as leprosarium.

The first one ever to be constructed in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) was in Seychelles, on Curieuse Island, in the year 1829.  The leprosarium was built mostly for Mauritian slaves that had become infected, but then as the Seychellois slaves became infected they were sent there as well. George Harrison, the Seychelles commissioner, at that time, saw Curieuse as a suitable location for preserving the coco de mer palm, as the reefs and deep waters offered protection against intruders. The leper colony was to serve as an added deterrent.

 It is important to note that at that time, it was mostly people of African descent that were affected, while white people were rarely infected. There were a few infected people on Mahé who were not originally sent to Curieuse but stayed in their homes and were regularly visited by doctors. Family often hid their infected loved ones, terrified that they will be sent to Curieuse, and also to protect them from the stigma.

The first supervisor of the camp was George Forbes, but despite his best effort conditions at the camp were rarely satisfactory. In 1835 a new medical officer was appointed and he greatly improved conditions at the camp. During the 1850’s the leper colony was closed because the leper population was low and it re-opened in the 1860s as the number of lepers increased. In 1871 the Mauritian Governor visited the camp and was so shocked at conditions there that he wanted to shut it down. In 1873 Dr Macgregor (the Irish gentleman who actually built the ‘Doctor’s’ house on Curieuse) was chosen to care for the lepers and he greatly improved their conditions, even if he only stayed in Seychelles for three years. Between 1910-1920 lepers were self sufficient; they collected coconut, produced copra, had a plantation and fished. They were used to their condition, preparing for their passing and it was not unusual to find coffins in their hut.

In 1929, Seychelles had a population of 27,000 inhabitants, 125 of which were lepers. During the 1930s, tourism development began in the Seychelles and at that time there were lepers living at Beau Vallon, English River and in the south of Mahé. In 1933, the leprosarium closed down, due to the unavailability of a doctor for Curieuse and the fact that the colony needed reparation. This led to the ‘Round’ islands being used to accommodate the lepers.  Round Island, presently found in the Ste Anne Marine Park, became home to the female patients whereas Round Island near Praslin became the new home of the infected males.
 The two camps closed in 1948 and the lepers were sent back to Curieuse, most probably because a doctor had become available. The first priest to visit the lepers on Curieuse was Père Theophile Pollard in 1954.The leprosarium was closed indefinitely in 1965. Dr Maxime Ferrari campaigned for its closure as by then leprosy had been eradicated in the country.

Contributed by Isabelle Ravinia, SNPA