6 
It may here be remarked that we had not to deal with tl^e 
question whether mosquitoes are or are not capable of carrying 
and transmitting from man to man the hoematozoa, or blood- 
parasites, that give rise to the group of fevers known as malaria : 
for this question had already been decided in the affirmative by 
Major Ross's own researches in India and by those of the Italian 
school of investigators represented by Professors Grassi, 
Bignami, and Bastianelli, at Rome. 
Sierra Leone was selected as the scene of our investigations 
for the reason that (besides being likely to afford an abundance 
of cases of fever for study) it is within easy reach (only 12 days) 
of Liverpool. 
Reasons for 
selecting 
Siena Leone. 
Passages 
provided by 
Mr. A. L. 
Jones. 
Departure 
and Arrival 
of the 
Expedition. 
Freetown 
and 
hnvirons. 
The members of the expedition were provided by Mr. A. L. 
Jones, of Messrs. Elder, Dempster, & Co., Liverpool, with free 
first-class passages to and from Sierra Leone ; our pass as were 
also made available to and from any other port or ports in 
British West Africa. 
The expedition left Liverpool on July 29th, 1899, in the 
African Steam Ship Company's S.S. " Fantee," and reached 
Freetown, Sierra Leone, on August 10th. For the first four days 
after our arrival we were the guests of the Acting Governor, 
Major Nathan, C.M.G., R.E., at Government House. After- 
wards we migrated to Tower Hill Barracks, occupied by the 
1st Battalion West India Regiment, where Major Norris, D.S.O., 
the Officer Commanding, had very kindly placed quarters at our 
disposal, besides making us honorary members of the mess during 
our stay. 
Since the work of the expedition was entirely devoted to Free- 
town and its immediate neighbourhood, it seems advisable to 
make a few remarks upon the place itself and its surroundings. 
The town of Freetown (which contains over 30,000 in- 
habitants) is situated approximately in Lat. 8° 30' N., 
Long. 13° 15' W., on the shores of a fine bay on the northern 
side of a mountainous promontory. Behind the town runs a 
semicircle of wooded hills, rising to a height of some 3,000 feet 
in their highest peak (Sugar-Loaf Mountain). The town lies 
partly on the Level ground at the foot of the hills, between them 
