﻿RESEARCH IN BRITISH WEST AFRICA. 169 



if these are hanging down and not under care of the sight. By nature it is an 

 out-door fly and only a short visitor to residences. It is more prevalent in the 

 haunts of cattle. It does not attack people in the open, only in houses or closed 

 canoes, and I think only in clear daylight, preferably the cool of the afternoon, 

 after 3 p.m. It causes very considerable petty oedema of the part bitten, which 

 does not disappear for a day or two, and sometimes bears a rough resemblance in 

 size to i Calabar Swellings.' When it is squashed while feeding, the contained 

 blood is considerable." 



Warri. — The country around Warri is very low-lying and exceedingly swampy 

 in the rains ; in most places the paths used during the dry season are flooded and 

 often impassable in the rainy season. The whole district is intersected by a net- 

 work of rivers and creeks which are navigable for canoes and launches. Com- 

 munication can thus be effected between Warri and such distant towns as Lagos, 

 Forcados, Abo and Brass, the journey by water to the last-mentioned place being 

 over 200 miles. 



The natives belong chiefly to the Sobo and Ijaw tribes ; the former are more 

 agricultural and inhabit the north and north-east, while the Ijaws are fishermen 

 and live on the creeks in the south and south-west. All are of a very low class, 

 unintelligent and of dirty habits, for which they can hardly be blamed con- 

 sidering the natural characteristics of the country in which they live. 



Glossina palpalis, Tabanus fasciatus, T. taeniola and T. secedens swarm in all 

 the creeks and backwaters. 



Forcados. — -Forcados is the principal shipping port of Southern Nigeria, and 

 also the largest on the West Coast of Africa. No matter how efficient the 

 railway system from Lagos may become, this township will always retain its 

 position as the chief outlet for produce from both Northern and Southern 

 Nigeria. It is now the headquarters of the Customs, Postal, Marine and Trans- 

 port Departments of the Central Province, and the European population, both 

 official and commercial, is increasing annually. Recently the Government 

 removed their large engineering works from Akassa to Forcados and erected a 

 slipway ; while a private firm owns a large dry-dock capable of taking ships up 

 to about 2,000 tonnage. At present, there are over forty Europeans stationed 

 permanently at Forcados, while the temporary European population as repre- 

 sented by the crews and stewards on steamers sometimes amounts to several 

 hundreds. The native government staff, the employees of the various com- 

 mercial firms, and the resident population exceeds two thousand. 



The surrounding country is composed of swamps and a network of creeks. 

 The town itself is situated on the left bank of the Forcados River about 8 miles 

 from its mouth. Like Lagos, it is built on an island, which, prior to European 

 occupation, consisted of an extensive mangrove swamp, and at the present time 

 the greater part of it still remains in its original marshy condition. The town 

 was created to meet a demand, and is purely artificial. The undertaking was an 

 enormous and costly task and is yet far from complete. Drains had to be cut, 

 roads had to be made, and before buildings could be erected the level of the 

 ground had to be raised considerably. During the rainy season the whole island, 

 with the exception of those raised parts, is under water, and the drains empty 



