32
DARJEELING CIRCLE.
Opposition among
Nepalese.
however ceased to exist, as it was found that in November and December he was absent on
the plea of vaccinating, while really attending to building contracts on tea gardens, and his
services were dispensed with. I have now succeeded in getting two Brahmins, keeping only-
one Lepcha; and although the work has improved in quality, the Bengalis are very ill-suited
physically for mountain work and the exposure incidental to it. They profess also to live
in great terror of the hill people, and cannot believe that when passing through forests they
must not necessarily encounter tigers. I intend to give them a fair trial, and if possible raise
the standard of vaccination, which has always been low in these hills, partly from the dress
and habits of the people, and partly from carelessness in the performance of the operation
and in the selection of lymph. There has been a good deal of opposition to vaccination
lately among the Nepalese, and in one or two instances among the Bhooteahs. Some
Nepalese had no hesitation in stating that they intended to send for an inoculator at their own
convenience and be inoculated. Opposition from this class arises, too, in another way; those
who work in gangs on tea gardens are under sirdars, who object to having their coolies vaccin-
ated, as the coolies like to have two or three days' leave when suffering from the vaccine
fever, and the sirdars lose allowances (sirdari) when they are absent.
I have tried to get native doctors in charge of tea gardens to operate during December
and January, when labour is light, but one of them confessed to me that last cold weather he
had protected one person, while a Government vaccinator succeeded in vaccinating about
80 on a neighbouring garden, where no cooly had ever been vaccinated before.
The
absence of small-pox from these hills for so long—the result of constant watching for the
appearance of the first case, and instantly isolating it, and the creation of a barrier to its
progress from the south by a large protected belt of country from the Mahanuddy to
the Teesta in the plains—has brought about a feeling of indifference to a disease of which
the Nepalese have a great dread.
One case was introduced in May 1873 to Lebong, in the neighbourhood of Darjeeling. It
was isolated in the jungle, and all the coolies in the garden where it appeared gladly accepted
vaccination, and no other case followed.
Julpigoree.
Number of
operations.
4. Julpigoree.—The operations in this district were in excess of those of the previous
season, although the oldest vaccinator of the gang left in the middle of the work on account
of his wife becoming insane. They were limited in another way, as last season the recom-
mendation of the Surgeon-General, directing that sudder thanas should be protected, first
conveyed in paragraph 27 of his letter No. 583, dated 23rd August 1872, to the Secretary to
the Government of Bengal, which came too late to be acted upon in the season 1872-73, was
carried out in 1873-74. Much of the Fukeergunge thana had, however, been done before ;
and to render it quite complete the ground was gone over a second time, which always seriously
reduces the number of operations. The Teesta, too, cut the area into two parts, so that lymph
had to be transferred across it, which was a serious check to work until thoroughly re-established.
Arm-to-arm vaccination was generally carried on, and opposition not often encountered in the
Fukeergunge jurisdiction, except to the protection of young children. The absence of a
village system in Julpigoree renders it difficult to state how many villages were visited by
the vaccinators, as the number of villages, mouzahs, or townships in the census report is given
as twelve which I suppose to mean talooks ; but out of a population of 54,466, 6,135 were
successfully vaccinated. Each vaccinator operated on 1791.5 persons. The four apprentices
attached to the district protected 2,110 persons. More than five times the annual birth-rate
of the area taken up was therefore protected, and two-thirds of that of the whole district, by
the Government establishment. There were also four ex-inoculators at work, who return
2,418 as successfully operated on, and a gang in Mynagori, who sent in no returns. With
some further organization of ex-inoculators, and arrangements for the inspection of their
operations, it would be perfectly safe, as it is most desirable, to introduce Act IV (B.C.) of
1865 into this district.
Purneah district.
Number of
operations.
5. Purneah.—The outpost of Elooabari, in the Kaliagunge thana, the most populous one in
the district, was the area in which operations were begun. This was the place which the native
superintendent and gang left the previous season, as they could not succeed in vaccinating the
people; but as it was the home of many inoculators, I thought it better not to abandon the attempt
and appear beaten. Success followed the efforts of the establishment, but the number protected
by each vaccinator was only 1,208.33. The population is almost entirely Mussalman, of a
very low stamp, and intensely suspicious of all my proceedings. I am glad to record that a
zemindar, Mahomed Ashie, of Boluncha, gave assistance to the vaccinators. Operations were
also extended into other parts of the thana, into villages which had been left from former
years, and the whole of Kaliagunge is now a fairly protected area, except the most southern
outpost, Gysal, where several ex-inoculators were at work, following, as usual, their own irregular
method. The number successfully vaccinated by the Government establishment, which
includes those done by apprentices, was 7,345. Eleven ex-inoculators submitted returns, giving
a result of 1,466 successfully vaccinated; but many more were at work than sent in returns.
The number of villages protected during the season was 407.
Dinagepore district
6. Dinagepore.—The operations were again less than in the previous year from idleness,
carelessness, and misconduct of the native superintendent and the men working under