THOMPSON YATES AND JOHNSTON LABORATORIES REPORT 
the Hospital, and the Telegraph Station are slightly better in this respect, but here 
only a road (Clifton Road) and an open space about one hundred yards across separate 
them from a bad portion of the native town (Portuguese Town), and on this portion 
of land a few huts are present. 
In the centre of Bathurst there is a fine open space, McCarthy's Square. On 
one side of this square is a very picturesque building, the Barracks, occupied during 
the time I was at Bathurst by a West Indian Regiment. The creek separating St. 
Mary's Island and the mainland commences at the back of the town of Bathurst ; and 
here it is about half-a-mile to a mile across. The ground in this part of Bathurst is 
very low-lying, and parts of it are below sea-level. To prevent the encroachment of 
tidal water a wall two to three feet high has been built. This wall extends for a con- 
siderable distance, the remainder being a mud embankment. Within this J-shaped 
area of St. Mary's Island described above two large swamps occur, namely, Half Die 
and Box Bar. The former swamp is situated in the smaller arm and is not tidal, 
owing to the low wall mentioned above. Native compounds occur all along these 
marshes, which in the wet season are often covered with water. Down the centre of 
this swamp a wide channel runs and opens into the creek by means of sluice gates. 
The other swamp, Box Bar, is situated at the back of the town, in the larger 
arm of land ; along its centre an open drain runs, which falls in a similar manner by 
means of sluice gates into the creek. On either side of this swamp the native town 
extends for some distance, as Portuguese Town on the one hand and New Town 
on the other. This swamp is larger than the preceding one and is partially covered 
by rank grass and low scrub. Its surface is much more regular, so that the collec- 
tions of water are rarely shut up from the central channel ; there appears to be a 
distinct fall, though slight, from the sides to the centre. Both of these swamps in the 
dry season only contain tidal water, which oozes through the sluice gates and sand 
into the central channel. In the wet season they practically act as reservoirs for rain- 
water. There is, besides, another smaller swamp. 
Population of Bathurst. — The European population of Bathurst varies slightly 
during the year, some of the officials and traders returning home during the wet 
season. There are some seventy to eighty persons. The native population is 
estimated at about fifteen thousand ; they include the Joloffs, Mandingoes (Moham- 
medans), and a small number of Jolahs (Pagans), and a good few Sierra Leone traders. 
Besides this there is a small fluctuating population of Assyrian traders, estimated at 
about one hundred. These people trade in small articles among the natives, and live 
in an extremely filthy condition. A few cases of yellow fever which occurred in 
Bathurst last year were supposed to have arisen by means of these people. 
Drainage of Bathurst. — Provision is made for the carriage of surface water by 
means of open gutters, which run down the centre of the main streets. These open 
channels commence at the higher portion of the town as shallow gutters, about 
