158 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
the weather more than a day or two and no serious symptoms 
manifesting themselves. There were no cases of malaria, for 
which we were indeed thankful. 
Elephantiasis is rather common on Antigua, and I was some- 
what surprised to learn that a number of white people are 
afflicted with this disease. Probably the fact that the blacks 
wear costumes which leave the lower part of the legs bare is 
responsible for the notion that only the blacks are afflicted. 
The kitchen was in a small building some distance from the 
quarters. This arangement had its drawbacks, as it necessitated 
carrying the food about a hundred yards to the diningroom 
and it was hard to have it served hot. Our servants were a 
housekeeper, cook, assistant cook, maid, a boy and a little girl. 
Mr. Lake, the caretaker, Corporal James of the Police Force, 
and Page, the gatekeeper, were employed by the authorities to 
look after the government property at the dockyard. 
There was less trouble in dealing with the servants here than 
at Pelican Island, and we found them in general more willing 
to learn our ways, and seemingly more eager to please. 
Albert Ashby, whom we brought from Barbados, was a great 
help in many ways. He developed real interest in collecting 
and was useful as a boatman. He proved much more resource- 
ful than the natives; and his strength and activity, as well as his 
intelligence, made him a very useful man of all work. On one 
occasion I took him with me to secure some large land-crabs, 
orange brown with bright purple and white chele and exceeding- 
ly hairy legs. These lived in the oozy mud of the mangrove 
swamp and were quite difficult to secure. A native that I em- 
ployed failed entirely. Albert, however, armed with a spade, 
would make a dive into the swamp, flounder around a while, 
and emerge with as many as three of these large crustaceans in 
his hands. Some of them had a spread of over fifteen inches 
and their pincers were really formidable. 
We hired a rowboat owned by a neighboring fisherman, for 
eight shillings per week. It was crude and hard to row, but 
served very well in the quiet waters of the harbor. 
There were a number of buildings at the Dockyard besides 
those occupied by us, which were solidly constructed of stone 
and brick but had not been kept in good repair. One was 
