3
of the district, and notably the Tárorú tableland, and the high plain of Palwal and the east of Nuh and
Firozpur, used to be very healthy; but fever has come with the Agra Canal into the villages along its
course in the high plain. Fever is the chief cause of mortality.
Firozpur Tahsil—One outbreak of Surra, in a village of this tahsil, is reported to have carried off
cent per cent. horses and asses possessed by the villagers.
Nuh Tahsil.—In a village of this tahsil all the horses owned by the villagers succumbed to the
disease during August 1896.
Delhi District.
This district is the central of the three districts of the Delhi Division. It consists of a long
narrow strip of country running along the western bank of the Jumna. It is divided into three
tahsils, of which Ballabhgarh lies to the south, that of Delhi in the centre, and that of Sonepat to
the north. It embraces an area of 1,276 square miles and has a total population of 643,515 souls.
Hills divide the district into two parts, the highest point of the range near Bháti 1,045 feet above
the sea and 360 feet above the Jumna at Delhi. The northern part, which is larger, is also the more
fertile and more populous. Without going minutely into details it may be said that this larger half of
the district consists of three parts,—the Khádar or riverain of the Jumna; the Bángar or level mainland
is higher, but the Western Jumna Canal traverses its whole length and affords too copious irrigation ;
the Dábar or lowland subject to floods for many miles round Chháoleh." The Khádar lies rather low,
has a light sandy soil, and easy irrigation from wells.
The average rainfall from 1866—1879 in the different tahsils was : Delhi 25.5, Ballabhgarh 213,
and Sonepat 23.1 inches.
" The existence of reh (saline efflorescence) and its extensive impoverishment of the soil are too well-known to require
to be dwelt on at length."
" The sanitary condition of most of the villages is as bad as it can possibly be. Each village is surrounded by dung
hills, and by one or more stagnant pools. In most houses the families and the cattle sleep in the same quarters, and the
water of the wells is frequently brackish, or largely impregnated with organic matter. The district has seldom been visit-
ed by cholera, and the mortality from this disease has never been very high, but the villages and smaller towns suffer
greatly from periodic epidemics of fever which cause great mortality.",—(District Census Report, 1881).
Cattle form an important feature of the agricultural economy of the district, but numerous sheep
and goats are also kept by the villagers. The last returns show that there are only 2,636 horses in
the district.
Delhi Tahsil.—During July 1891, one village of this tahsil is said to have suffered from Surra,
losing one horse only. An outbreak took place amongst cavalary horses when marching through Delhi
in 1894-95 ; one squadron was left behind.
Ballabhgarh Tahsil.—In Kurnali, which lies near the Jumna, Surra appeared in the rains of 1893
and killed off all the horses and asses in the village. Since then no equines have been kept. The
Lambardár lost four horses, for which he had paid Rs. 250 each.
Soneput Tahsil.—Surra called " Zaharbad " occurred in seven villages of this tahsil, situated in
the Jumna Khadar, during the latter half of 1895. During the month of November 1895 another
village of the tahsil suffered from this disease (sometimes called " Oal" ).
Reports submitted with regard to the outbreaks of Surra during recent years, viz. 1892—1896, in
seventeen villages situated in this tahsil. The loss sustained was slight in comparison to those in the
bordering district of Karnal ; only 48 horses, 38 mules and 8 asses succumbed.
" As might be expected from the similarity of the physical characters of: the Khadar lands of the Delhi and Karnal
districts and their contiguity, Surra is found to be a serious fatal disease to equines in the Khadar tract of the Jumna in
that district. I heard numerous complaints as to the whole of the horses having been carried off: some years ago by a
plague which from a description of the symptoms appears to have been undoubtedly Surra, and I consider the whole of the
tract dangerous. Whilst visiting Karali on my tour I was informed that all the soliped animals in the village had been
carried off a few years ago and that the people were afraid to get more animals there. The Lambardár had purchased a
mare and wanted my opinion as to whether there was any chance of her living".— (Veterinary-Captain Pease).
Rohtak District.
This district lies to the immediate west of the Delhi District. Its centre is about 730 feet
above sea level, and the fall of the country from north to south is about one foot per mile.
It embraces an area of 1,811 square miles with a population of 553,609 souls. It is divided into
four tahsils, of which that of Gohána comprises the northern, Jhajjar the southern, Sampla the east
central, and that of Rohtak the west central portion of the district. The seasons are notoriously un-
certain in their character, the average rainfall for the 18 years 1866 —1883 being 20 inches. "The east-
ern border of Rohtak lies low, at the same level as the Delhi branch of the Western Jumna Canal and the
Najafgarh Jhil, to which the streams of the Sahibi and Indori pass across the eastern corner of Jhajjar.
A few miles from the east border, taken at the centre of the district, the surface rises gradually to a
level plateau, which, speaking roughly, stretches as far as the town of Rohtak, and is in a manner
demarcated east and west by two rows of sand-hills. Beyond the western line the surface slopes up
again, till it ends on the Hissár border in a third high range. The depth of the water below the sur-
face in the wells of those villages which are removed from the influence of the canals and streams,
testifies clearly to the general exterior configuration of the country. Along the whole east border the
depth to the water is 28 feet ; at a distance of ten miles from the Delhi boundary, and along a line
drawn from below the canal village of Gánwir in Gohána, Khimgái in Jhajjar, the average depth is