697 
DR, little’s coral theory. 
fever, the Ringdove, commanded by Sir William Hoste, lying in 
the creek at Labuan, close to the shore, for twenty days to leeward 
of the reefs, but separated from the swampy plain by a belt of 
trees and jungle, and with her crew daily exposed in cutting wood, 
did not suffer, or suffered very slightly, from fever ! Let Dr Little 
reconcile these facts with his theory ; and though his humanity is 
to be applauded, it is difficult to conceive how under the circum¬ 
stances, any suggestion could have prevented the loss of life which 
occurred from fever contracted from exposure on active service, or 
from the marsh miasm of the island of Moarra. 
For want of space I must content myself with two other 
examples, which demonstrate in a striking manner, the cause whence 
the fever is derived. 
The marines of the Mseander were landed at Labuan, whilst the 
vessel lay at anchor about a quarter of a mile from the barrack, 
which was a comfortable attap house. 
The marines on shore suffered severely from fever, whilst the 
rest of the crew sleeping on board, though often hard at work, and 
exposed during the day on the plain, continued more healthy, and 
had but few cases of fever amongst them. Again, the schooner 
Jolly Bachelor with a crew of about fifteen men, was anchored 
some two hundred yards from the beach, and remained there very 
nearly the whole time the marines were ashore, and yet although 
the marines, out of thirty-two men, had at one time only six fit for 
duty, and lost about a dozen of their number, there were but few 
cases of fever, and only one death aboard the schooner, and it is 
remarkable that of the officers (who often slept ashore), three 
out of four were attacked by remittent fever, and the seaman whose 
case ended fatally had, it was known, slept ashore in the open 
air, a few nights before he was seized. 
These are but a few out of many similar examples recorded by 
a person resident on the spot, and although not immediately 
pertinent to the subject under consideration, it is nevertheless 
worthy of notice, that no person of a respectable class in life has 
been carried off by fever ashore, and that the two officers who 
died from this low remittent sank after the use of the lancet. 
Dr, Rimel, formerly surgeon of H. M. S. Royalist, who had 
more local experience than any other medical man, pronounced 
the fever of Labuan to be a light and not dangerous type of remit¬ 
tent, unless aggravated by superadded causes, and it is now fully 
allowed that depletion (even from leeches) is a dangerous and 
mostly fatal practice. 
Having thus demonstrated that the swampy plain of Labuan will 
fully account for the fever prevalent there, and having submitted 
for Dr. Little’s consideration some facts, strikingly contradictory to 
his hypothesis, I shall notice but one other assertion, before treat¬ 
ing of the reefs around Labuan. 
