27
NORTHERN DISTRICT.
contributed largely to increase the number of cases in the 41st Regiment to 419. Of this
number five died, and four of the deaths took place among those who contracted the disease in
Bustar.
Movements of troops.
a . T h e 1 2 t h R e g i m e n t N . I . m o v e d f r o m V i z i a n a g r u m o n t h e 1 2 t h a n d r e a c h e d C u t t a c k
on the 25th March; the journey having been performed by steamer from Bimlipatam,
viâ False Point to Saldundah, and thence by land to Cuttack.
b . T h e 4 1 s t R e g i m e n t N . I . p r o c e e d e d f r o m C u t t a c k t o V i z i a n a g r u m i n M a r c h 1 8 7 6 .
c. Three companies of this corps were sent to the Bustar country, and absent between
the 8th and 25th April from head-quarters.
d. The 7th Regiment N.I., during the disturbance in Buster, furnished in March a
detachment to that tract of country; but when it reached Manapoorum, information
having been received that the disturbance was quelled, it was ordered to return to
Vizagapatam, and reached head-quarters on the 1st April 1876.
e .
O r d e r s a g a i n h a v i n g b e e n r e c e i v e d o n t h e 2 n d A p r i l , a n o t h e r d e t a c h m e n t , a w h o l e
Wing in fact, was sent on the 4th, which, after the completion of its duty, returned
to Vizagapatam about the end of April.
f .
A t h i r d d e t a c h m e n t w a s s e n t t o C o c a n a d a i n D e c e m b e r t o s u p p r e s s r i c e r i o t s , a n d i t
is still at that port.
g .
A W i n g o f t h e 4 1 s t R e g i m e n t N . I . p r o c e e d e d t o t h e G o d a v e r y a n d K i s t n a d i s t r i c t s
on the 21st November 1876.
Movements
of troops.
Huts and lines.— Surgeon Thomas, in medical charge of the Left Wing, 2nd Regiment
N.I. at Sumbulpore, writes : —
"General construction of huts is such as exists in most native lines. Ventilation, cubic space,
&c., decidedly insufficient for the average number of persons inhabiting the lines.
"The general drainage and conservancy in the lines is defective. V-shaped drains run along the
lines of huts; these are imperfectly joined and permit soakage. The drains open into reservoirs
situated at the west end of the lines; these also are a nuisance, overflowing into the ground; the
injurious nature of such a state of things is shown by destruction of several mango trees, and
contamination of a well all within a few yards of the lines. The whole question of drainage has been
repeatedly represented to the proper authorities."
Surgeon-Major Parker, of the 12th Regiment N.I. at Cuttack, remarks:—
" Huts such as are used by Native troops generally, but very old and too closely packed."
Surgeon Boalth, of the 2nd Regiment N.I. at Berhampore, observes:—
" Sanitary arrangements in the lines, I am sorry to say, are exactly as they were last year, as they
were the year previous to that, as they were from the days the lines were first built. There are no
masonry drains whatever in the lines. The ground on either side of the roads is cut into shallow
channels for the purpose of carrying away surface-water. In these cutcha channels are sunk, opposite
to each hut, an earthen tub for holding sewage from each individual hut. This sewage is daily
baled out and conveyed away some distance from the lines. But frequently these tubs overflow, and
the contents run into the cutcha drains, and either soak into the ground or are evaporated by the heat
of the sun and diffused into the air! Iu baling out also a good deal is spilt on the ground. A public
latrine for the use of the men, built only last year at the expense of the municipality, has been kept
clean. The dry-earth system is adopted. The construction of this enclosure, which has no roof, is, in
my opinion, faulty.
"Little or no advantage can now be gained in attempting to conserve these very imperfect lines.
The site should be given up and a better locality fixed for new lines.
"The arrangement in the enclosures in the compounds of the sepoys, used for the purpose of
latrines for their families, is very unsatisfactory. A few stones buried in the ground is all the flooring.
A few tiles placed on the ground is the drain to conduct the sewage into an earthen tub sunk in the
cutcha drain outside the compound wall. The consequence is, the place is constantly damp, and
sewage percolates freely into the soil.
"Sanitary arrangements are, as far as practicable, properly attended to. Proper drains am sadly
required, and impermeable flooring, and drains for the little latrines in the compounds of the
m e n
f o r t h e i r f a m i l i e s a b s o l u t e l y n e c e s s a r y . "
Surgeon Dalgairns, of the 7th Regiment N.I., records as follows:
—
"Both the situation and construction of the lines are objectionable. As regards the situation the
huts being built on the western slope of the hills, the men are deprived often of the sea-breeze, which
is the prevailing wind; the backwater is also not very far from the lines, which no doubt tends to
favor the production of fevers. The lines are built too close on to the main road, and owing to there
being several villages in close proximity to the lines, the sanitary condition of the vicinity of the lines
is very bad.
"The huts occupied by the men are built in parallel lines. The huts are irregularly built and
badly ventilated—the only ventilation is through the entrance door, which is very low and small. The
accommodation inside the huts is very and, no doubt, in many of them there mast be over
- c r o w d i n g t o s o m e e x t e n t . T h e d r a i n a g e o f t h e l i n e s i s v e r y b a d ; t h e r e a r e t h r e e m a s o n r y d r a i n s
passing through the main street between the lines of huts, and leading into the main street drain.
Huts and
lines.