RAVINES AND JUNGLE FEVER. 419 



mountains was well illustrated during the late Emm 

 Pasha Relief Expedition in Central Africa, for there was 

 nowhere that the expedition suffered more severely 

 than in the lofty mountain region of " Ankori," almost 

 every member of the caravan consisting of 1000 people 

 having suffered from fever during their progress through 

 this district; and Dr. Parkes, their medical officer, 

 specially states that this occurred at high altitudes as 

 well as low. " I may mention (he says) that we suffered 

 from fever at all altitudes, up to 10,000 feet above sea 

 level." * Dr. Parkes however thinks that many of these 

 cases were caused by the keen air, and draughts, met 

 with among the mountains, sudden chills being in that 

 climate almost always followed by an attack of fever. It is 

 probable that such causes may also have had considerable 

 effect, and that they account in great measure for the 

 well-known fact that persons coming from the plains 

 often find an ascent to considerable altitudes precipitates 

 an attack of fever. 



All these circumstances however combine to show 

 that from a sanitary point of view, the occupation of 

 Senchal, at the head of an immense ravine, was most 

 unfortunately chosen. In the Himalayas the early 

 mornings are often beautifully clear, but as the sun 

 gathers strength during the day, dense masses of 

 vapour frequently rise from the valleys, and are 

 carried up the ravines by the wind. From Darjeeling 

 and other places, these mighty channels, worn by 

 water out of mountain sides during the lapse of 

 ages, are often to be seen filled with white smoke- 



* Personal Experiences in Equatorial Africa as Medical Officer of^ 

 the E.P.R.E., by Thos. H. Parkes, Surgeon A.M.S., pp. 477 479 

 (pub. 1891.) 



