YELLOW FEVER EXPEDITION 
553 
bath on the ground floor after about eight a.m. ; at the hospital, Domingos Freire, no water 
came through the pipes after eleven a.m. In many houses private pumps and cisterns 
were arranged so as to ensure a supply through the day. As regards quality, it may 
be noted that the water as it flows from the tap is frequently very full of brown 
sediment, so that it is quite opaque ; dead flies, mosquitoes, and their larvae have 
also been encountered in the water flowing directly from the tap. When the water 
supply ceases and the tap is turned there is strong insuction of air giving the 
possibility of the introduction of other things. The amount of water is given as 
over r, 000,000 litres per diem, 1 that is ten litres per head per day. Especially in 
outlying districts local wells or springs are used. The community generally is 
wasteful, and much water finds its way in watering gardens, etc. Public standpipes 
are provided about the city so that the poor can obtain water free of charge ; in 
houses where it is laid on it is taxed by meters. The gathering ground is a charming 
collection of springs at Utinga well away from the city beyond the Marco da Legua. 
We were promised an official visit of inspection of the new works that are being put 
in, but, for some unaccountable reason, it never took place. Except one stream, 
passing down in close proximity to the pumping station, and in which people bathe, 
wash clothes, and which is crossed by a public footpath, and liable to pollution 
from several houses in its proximity, and of which we were unable to determine 
the eventual fate of the water, the springs and streams seem well sheltered from 
pollution. New works are being pushed forward, including large mains of nearly one 
metre diameter; naturally this is slow work, and the temporary laying of a small sub- 
sidiary main for immediate purposes was not adopted, so that the water supply is 
not likely to be very adequate for some time longer. It may be mentioned, in 
passing, that these large pipes for the mains have been lying about in most indescrib- 
able filth in the roadways, etc., for some time, others have been employed as dormi- 
tories, so that when the new service is instituted persons should be more than 
ordinarily careful about the filtration and the boiling (if the servants are sufficiently 
reliable) of water for consumption. 
Sewerage. Some part of the city is supplied with drains, mostly at any rate 
the mains are old brick constructions, and probably not free from faults. The amount 
of water available for flushing out is quite insufficient, though the rivers afford an 
unlimited available quantity. It seems hardly worth considering alterations until 
there is sufficient water available for efficient water carriage. Probably the major 
part is served by cesspools ; these are such that in many cases the watery constituents 
are said to filter away into the sand, leaving a very slight amount of solid residue ; 
those which I saw, however, were full of water, and formed an abundant source of 
the C. fatigans mosquito. 
The Stale of Para, 1893, p. 113. 
