MALARIA EXPEDITION TO THE GAMBIA 
7 
Food. — Europeans at Bathurst are fortunate with regard to fresh food ; fresh 
meat can be obtained every day. There is a special slaughter-house for cattle, situated 
behind the market, which is under the supervision of the Sanitary Board. Fish is 
brought into the town twice daily, and is of excellent quality. Very good bread can 
be obtained from the various traders, particularly the French Companies ; the smaller 
native traders also sell bread in the market. Throughout the dry season English 
vegetables of all kinds are easily obtainable. Many of the European officials and 
European traders make a point of growing these vegetables, and I observe that the 
natives are, in a small way, imitating the Europeans in this respect. Many of them 
grow onions and tomatoes to sell in the market. Through the energy of the French 
Company ice can be obtained all the year round. 
Disposal of Refuse. — Amongst the Europeans, sand closets are almost universally 
used, being emptied every day by a staff of night-soil men. With regard to the natives, 
public latrines are provided by the Government. At times it happens that excretal 
matters are washed by the tide on to the foreshore. In the compounds of the more 
wealthy class of natives middens are used ; some of these are of very large size, and 
are not made impervious to water. In the smaller compounds a tub placed in the 
ground is used as a privy. Only occasionally earth or lime is mixed with the excretal 
matter. When full, which takes from one to two years, the tub is discarded and another 
inserted in a fresh place in the compound. Both the tubs and privies were found to 
be infested with multitudes of fly maggots. The Jollofs, who constitute about one- 
third of the population of Bathurst, have no middens or tubs in their compounds ; 
instead, an earthenware jar is used to retain excreta, the jar being emptied every day, 
either in the morning or at night, into the river. These people are particularly clean 
and tidy and take a pride in keeping their compounds in good order. Dry refuse is 
removed from the various compounds by the Sanitary Board's carts, which go round 
the town every day ; this refuse is dumped on the borders of Box Bar swamp. 
Prevalence of Malaria Fever in Bathurst. — With such a comparatively small and 
fluctuating white population in Bathurst it is difficult to estimate exactly the prevalence 
of malarial fever amongst the Europeans. From the medical officers' reports, which 
the Colonial Surgeon, Dr. R. M. Forde, very kindly allowed me to consult, I was 
able to obtain the following data for the last three years : — In 1898, out of a total 
European population of sixty-three, twenty-three persons were admitted into the 
hospital for various diseases, but principally for malarial fever. There were three 
deaths for the year, two from haemoglobinuric fever and one from malarial cachexia ; 
during the year there were four cases of blackwater fever amongst the non-official 
European residents. In 1899, out of a population of eighty, twenty were admitted 
during the year into the hospital, chiefly for malarial fever. Of the non-official white 
population sixty-six were treated during the year ; of these thirty-seven were cases of 
malarial fever of the remittent type and three were cases of haemoglobinuric fever ; 
