The San Francisco call., 1910-08-16
POISONOUS COAST
OF west AFRICA
Climatic Conditions May Pre-
vent It's Settlement by Per-
sons of Caucasian Race

Consul w. j. Yerby, OF Sierra Leone,
furnishes the following information
concerning the climate, diseases and
sanitary conditions of the European
colonies of West Africa:
1t is often said that West Africa be-
gins at Liverpool. Whenever a steam
er clears from Freetown. Sierra Leone,
a number of well dressed black men
are on hand to see the vessel off.
These men are educated in medicine.
law and commercial knowledge of no
Indifferent kind, and are the result of
the establishment in 1898, by the late
Sir Alfred Jones, who was head of the
Elder Dempster steamship company, of
Liverpool, of the Liverpool School of
Tropical Medicine, and more recently
of a hospital in connection Herewith,
to train nurses, not only to serve in the :
hospitals in West Africa, but to act S
stewardesses on the steamers plying
between Liverpool and the West coast.
These are but part of the potent links
between Liverpool and the immense
West African trade.
While everything possible is being
done to render the colonies of England
on the West coast habitable for its
administrators as we'll as for the Eu-
ropeans engaged in trade, and the ma
tives themselves, and while the same
is true, from the best information OBJ
tainabIe by this consulate, of the
French and German colonies it is very
much doubted by all well informed peo
pie whether West Africa proper Will
ever be settled by Europeans. The
whole of the country for 200 to 500
miles from the coast, except at isolated
spots. is saturated with malaria in its
worst form The climate is so depress-
ing that even one able to resist the
malaria has his physical and mental
energy sapped at the end of II months.
The most dreaded disease of the coast
is black water fever. Its cause is un-
certain The laity seem to think it is
often the result of too much quinine-
quinine poisoning. The medical authori-
ties seem to think there is special
black water fever germ. Few recover
from a severe attack of it, and the at
tacks are generally severe. AS rule,
those who have black water fever have
suffered repeated attacks of the ordi-
nary malaria. In the severe forms of
the disease there is a high temperature,
ranging from 104 to 106, and often
higher; dryness of skin, congestion and
inactivity of the kidneys (where the
whole trouble seems to lie), with Sc
we're headache and pain in the back
and limbs There is hemoglobinuria,
the urine becomes scant, heavy ana
very black AS q rule, the disease
comes on without any warning, except
a sudden rise of temperature, the spleen
becomes enlarged and tender upon the
least nressure. rendering the patient
very uncomfortable in lying on the left
side. The patient loses strength rap
idly. and unless his resistive powers and
reserve force
In Gambia, the smallest British
colony on the coast with a population
of about $4,000, the births registered
in 1909 were 297 and 306 deaths. These
figures are, of course, mostly or ma
tives. No deaths occurred among the
officials. The water for Europeans and
the better class natives is obtained
from galvanized iron tanks which MI
during the rainy season, but the people
who can not afford these tanks obtain
their water from the wells of the town,
which is very poor, poor also In the
tanks as in the wells in the latter part
of the dry season
in Freetown, the capital of Sierra
Leone. the 10000 inhabitants are
blessed with a good supply of water
piped down from the mountains. Tx
cept at the end of long dry seasons,
as that of the present year. this sup
ply is quite sufficient. However, at the
end of these long dry seasons the oc-
casional rains do more harm than
good by wetting the decayed Vegeta-
tion lust enough for the rising fumes
tn increase the heaviness of the al
ready saturated miasmatic atmosphere.
There are at this place, besides the hos
pitaIs in connection with the military
service. two colonial and one church
hospital Sierra Leone has been quite
fortunate in not having any epidemics.
There are from time to time case or
two of smallpox at different points in
the interior At Freetown and Bonthe,
the only seaports of the colony, there
have occurred no cases of smallpox in
recent years, and only one recognized
case of yellow fever, European, which
proved fatal.
The Gold Coast colony is less fortu-
nate than Sierre Leone in regard to
the healthfulness of the seacoast
towns. Accra, the capital, had bubonic
plague in 1908, and only on May Ia.
1910. Sekondi, one of the three prin-
cipaI seaports, was declared by the
governor of the colony to be infected
with yellow fever. From reports at
hand it appears, however, that only
four cases have been reported to date,
Nav 81. The Gold Coast government
plans to spend over 100000 on a wa
ter supply for Accra alone, and large
amounts for other towns. At present
the Europeans and better class natives
at Accra, Sekondi, Cape Coast Castle
and AKIN depend upon water tanks, as
at Bathurst, Gambia, for water. while
the bulk of the people depend upon
wells, shallow ponds and stagnant
streams for their supply.
w W