RESEARCH IN SIERRA LEONE. 163 



Between Kamba and Mussaia the country is broken, several hills of 500 600 

 feet rising- up from the general level of the plateau. The vegetation consists of 

 open bush, a certain amount of grass land (savannah-like), and frequent bamboo 

 clumps — typical country for Glossina longipalpis. The town of Mussaia is 

 situated about a mile from the Mango River. It is a very old town, the capital 

 of the Yallunka kingdom, and is surrounded by an enormous stockade of large 

 cotton trees. In the town itself mosquitos were very troublesome and a large 

 number of both Anopheles funestus and A. costalis were caught. Glossina palpalis 

 was found at the watering place on the Mango River and also in the town, along 

 with Tabanus pertinens and Tab anus sp., the former of which was very abundant. 

 A large number of ticks, Haemaphy salts leachi, were taken off the dogs and cattle. 



The country between Mussaia and Kaballa consists of an open plateau covered 

 with grass and a certain amount of thin bush merging in several places into open 

 orchard-like patches. 



The town of Kaballa is the headquarters of the Koinadugu District, and is 

 excellently situated in a very mountainous region at an altitude of between 1,600 

 and 1,700 feet. Formerly it was one of the posts of the West African Frontier 

 Force, but the troops have now been removed to Daru. Two European officials 

 are, however, still stationed there, namely, a District Commissioner and a Medical 

 Officer. The general plan of the station is as follows : — Several small hills, 

 separated by shallow valleys, form a cresent, which encloses an extensive level 

 plain, and opposite these are two other hills with valleys on each side which 

 descend to the same level as the plain. On the highest of the first-mentioned 

 hills stands the Commissioner's bungalow, with a commanding view of the station 

 below and a large portion of the surrounding country. On another of these hills, 

 but much lower down, is the Medical Officer's house, while still lower down — 

 on the road to the plain — is the Europeon rest-house. On the plain below 

 (Plate XVIII, fig. 2) are situated the District Office, Post Office, Hospital, Jail, 

 court messengers' barracks and clerks' houses. At one side of the valley there 

 is a small stream which in the rainy season forms an extensive swamp, and it is 

 noteworthy that the prevailing wind blows across this swamp towards the 

 European quarters. 



The slopes of the hill between the native lines and the European quarters 

 are covered with low scrub and grass, and tall elephant grass actually 

 extends to within a few yards of the Medical Officer's house. Cassava is exten- 

 sively grown around the court messengers' lines, the clerks' quarters, the jail 

 and the hospital. There can be no doubt that this state of affairs accounts to a 

 great extent for the prevalence of mosquitos, sandflies, and other biting insects 

 in Kaballa, and until the whole of this area is cleared, no hope for a diminution 

 of these pests can be expected. Malaria is said to be extremely common in 

 Kaballa, and one case of sleeping sickness was diagnosed there. 



At the time of my visit, mosquitos were very troublesome, far in excess of 

 what should be expected at that season of the 'year. The chief species found 

 were Anopheles funestus, A. costalis and Stegomyia sugens. A small sandfly, 

 Ceratopoyon sp., constituted one of the chief pests. Other blood-sucking insects 

 caught in Kaballa include Tabanus kingsleyi, Tabanus laverani and T, besti var. 

 arbucklei. Ctenocephalus felis is not uncommon, while Rhipicephalus sanguineus 

 and Haemaphy salts leachi were obtained from dogs 



