MALARIA AND MOSQUITOES 59 



The tide is ordinarily about two feet at the fulL The vil- 

 hisre rests between two hills of 80 or 90 feet elevation. The 

 valley is almost flat, and consists of marshy pools, in 

 which the mud or ooze can easily be pierced with a strong 

 pole to a depth of several feet. Three of these pools or 

 ponds are directly in the rear of the house known as the 

 rectory, in which he resided with his wife on June 24, 1899. 

 Neither of them had ever had nuilaria or fever before, but 

 the mosquitoes were so numerous that it was impossible to 

 take rest at night for a while. On July lltli his wife was 

 taken with malaria, and on September 4tli had to be re- 

 moved to the mountains. Mr. Brayshaw himself was sick 

 most of the time, and every house in the villag-e had from 

 one to five persons suffering- from malaria. He proposed 

 ditching- and drainage, but there was no money, and every- 

 body laughed at the idea, as many of the citizens had 

 lived there from childhood to an advanced age. There 

 did not seem to be sufficient fall to carry off the " effete 

 matter." On May 19, 1900, he gained the consent of the 

 property owners to ditch through their land a distance of 

 560 feet to Chaptico Creek. He paid for this himself. 

 The expense was about $10. The result he sums up as 

 follows : " During- the summer of 1899, from May to Octo- 

 ber, the mosquitoes were so numerous that life was a 

 burden during the night, and they Avere so small that nets 

 seemed to have no effect upon them. From May to Octo- 

 ber, 1900, quite a numl)er visited us, until June 12th, when 

 they disappeared, and we were free from them until the 

 last six days in September, when I found a local cause for 

 their breeding-. In the summer of 1899 every house in the 



