Report by Professor W.J. Simpson on sanitary matters in various West African colonies and the outbreak of plague in the Gold Coast.
- William Simpson
- Date:
- 1909
Licence: In copyright
Credit: Report by Professor W.J. Simpson on sanitary matters in various West African colonies and the outbreak of plague in the Gold Coast. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.
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![its damp, oppressive, and enervating climate. The refreshing change in climate which is experienced on going from the town to the hills is very marked. Configuration of Locality and Position of Hill Station and Barracks. (3) Near the eastern horn ol the crescent and joined on to the range by a low saddle or ridge rises a small hill of about 400 feet, which gradually slopes down to the river bank. This elevation, called Tower Hill, divides the crescent into two horse-shoe sha])ed valleys of unequal size, the western being the larger, and it is around this hill and in the wider valleys that the town is built. Ihe crescentic range is highest in its centre, culminating in Leicester Peak, which is nearly 2,000 feet high and gradually slopes to 700 and 900 feet at its eastern and western horns respectively. It is on the highest portion of the w^estern crescent that the hill station for European officials has been built, while a little lower down on the same ridge are the barracks of the West African Regiment. On the eastern horn of the crescent, between 800 and 900 feet high, are the barracks of the West Indian Regiment, and low down on Tower Hill, close to the town, are the quarters of the European troops, consisting of artillerymen and engineers. Location of European Troops Inferior from a health point of view to that of Natice Troops. (4) The position of both the West African and West Indian iSTative regiments is far superior from a healtli point of view to that of the European troops. The Streams of Freetoicn. (5) Leicester Peak with its spurs and ridges form the watershed from vxhich arises the springs and streams that flow to the river through the valleys on either side of Tower Hill. Three huge streams called the Congo, George River, and the Ideo-roko or Sanders Brook, flow through the western valley and one large stream, Nicol's Brook, flows through the eastern. They are perennial streams, of not more than two to two and a-lialf miles long, and their channels are principally of granite and laterite, with huge boulders and rocks strewn in them in their upper reaches. The Town huilt on Laterite of Different Degrees of Porosity. (()) The hills mainly consist of granite, syenite, and basalt, with a covering of laterite. The valleys on which Freetown is built consist of laterite varying in hardness and porosity, and often fused into hard and dense rock covered usually by a thin layer of laterite soil. The soil generally, except in those instances where hard rock is exposed, is porous, and it is marvellous how soon after heavy rains the flood water disappears and the streets are perfectly dry. This condition exists in large areas of the town, more especially in that portion north of Tower Hill. Marshy condition of some areas. (7) But there are othei- areas, such as those near the foot of the hills, where the ground is full of s]:)rings and consequently always wet, and there are areas lower down in the flats where the soil is waterlogged and the drying uj) is exceedingly slow. In the former case there is a continual oozing out of w\ater from the ground, which flows down any near declivity and settles in pools where the surface may be uneven and where the laterite is harder and more impermeable. In the latter instance the water- logging is only increased by the rains, and there is no time between the showers for the locality to get dried. Indeed, so marshy do some localities become, as, for example, the grass fields which form a very large area of land in the Western Valley, that they are uninhabited and are used in the dry season as a rifle range and golf course. If this waterlogging, which is the cause of its marshiness, were removed a very valuable piece of land, which is useless at present besides being a danger to health, would bccoii:Le available for building purposes, and would materially assist in relieving the overcrowding that is taking place in some parts of the town. In many places the loose soil, the detritus of the laterite and disintegrated rock of the hills, is so thin that the laterite rock below easily becomes denuded and water lodges in the depressions. CoUrat part of Freetown well laid out. (8) Freetown, besides being the most picturesquely situated town of the British Colonies on the West Coast of Africa, is also the best laid out and most attractive](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21365398_0029.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
