and the temptation which would be held out, by the certainty of promotion, might, probably, be considered an adequate compensation to the risk:  and, in case any individual should have conducted himself throughout the whole period of his service, to the entire satisfaction of his officers, and should subsequently wish to remain at the colony, it might be adviseable to offer him a small government appointment, or, in some cases, the reward might be extended to a commission in the Colonial Corps.  If this could be carried into effect, it would certainly be attended with considerable advantages; it would procure respect for the British name, recall the savage from his life of recklessness, and put a final stop to those disgraceful scenes of profligacy which are so frequently witnessed in the streets of Sierra Leone.

Having requested my friend Dr. Barry, who was at the head of the Medical Staff at Sierra Leone, to procure me what information he could on the subject of vaccination and small-pox, in Africa, he most obligingly forwarded me the following document, which, for the sake of perspicuity, is put in the form of question and answer.

  Replies to Dr. George Gregory’s Queries on Vaccination and
  Small-pox, Sierra Leone, 24th September, 1827.

  1st.  Is vaccination generally practised among the infant negro
  population?

  2nd.  Whence do they derive their stock of lymph?

  3rd.  What is the degree of confidence placed in it?

Vaccination is not at all practised among the negro population, by native vaccinators; it is, however, practised among certain branches of the negro population by European surgeons; the negro population of Sierra Leone consists of Nova Scotian, and Maroon settlers, liberated Africans, and several of the aboriginal African tribes, namely, Timmanees, Mandingoes, Soosoos, Boollams, Sherbros, &c. &c. &c.  The three first mentioned of these branches of the negro population, having greater intercourse with Europeans, are better acquainted with European customs, and have, of course, imbibed more of European notions and prejudices, on such subjects as the one now under consideration, than the aboriginal inhabitants of this part of Africa; vaccination, therefore, is, and has been, practised among them to a considerable extent, the stock of lymph being derived from, and kept up by, frequent renewals from England.  That their confidence in it, as a measure preventive of small-pox, is great, I judge from the anxiety which they shew, and the eagerness which they manifest to have their children vaccinated when the small-pox is raging around them; while, under ordinary circumstances, and when their fears have been lulled by the absence of this fatal epidemic, an absence which they well know is probably but temporary, they exhibit such an unaccountable apathy regarding vaccination, that a stranger might well suppose they had no faith in it as a prophylactic measure; notwithstanding this, I believe they have great confidence in it, although, from circumstances to which I shall presently allude, that confidence has declined considerably.

  4th.  How soon does the arcola arrive at its greatest height in those
  countries?