184
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BENGAL,
Principal
causes of
sickness.
XVI. Principal causes of sickness
Disease.
1875.
1876.
1877.
1873.
Fevers
. . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
172
811
102
1,349
Dysentery . . . . . . . . . .
29
58
29
132
Diarrhœa . . . . . . . . . . .
...
16
13
1 1 6
Eye affections . . . . . . . . .
62
47
40
11
Bronchial affections . . . . . . .
. . .
32
29
109
Blistered feet . . . . . . . .
22
21
52
31
The admissions this year are 2,097, against 589 of 1877, of which fevers, diarrhœa, and
dysentery caused 1,642. The sickness in 1877 was reported exceptional, but apparently it is
not so. The people in the valley say that they always suffer for about two months in the year.
The following table shows the sickness of the different regiments stationed at Quetta
during the years 1877 and 1878 :—
R E G I M E N T S .
Strength.
Admissions.
Deaths.
Daily average
sick.
1877. 1878. 1877. 1878. 1877.
1878. 1877. 1878.
1st Punjab Infantry . . . .
598.37 497.08 1,444 1,509
8
10 41.30 44.21
3rd Peshawar Mountain Battery . . 161.33 189.50 581 971 ...
3 20.03 21 76
5th Company, Bengal Sappers and Miners 120.91 111.13
366
647
2
3 14.95 19.25
32nd Pioneers . . . . .
... 652.82 ...
1,815 . . .
12 ...
41.54
Principal
causes of
mortality.
Special obser-
vations and
remarks.
The men remained fairly healthy until July, when they began to suffer from diarrhœa.
Rain fell in August, and the diarrhœa seemed to stop. About the end of August fever began,
and increased so rapidly that the admissions alone in October were 548, out of a strength of
691. The diarrhœa night fairly be put down to eating unripe fruit. _Apricots, mulberries, and
apples could be had for the picking. Quetta is certainly built on near the lowest part of the
valley, but it has a good slope, and water does not lie. The water-level over the station
averages 10 feet; this may be a cause of the fever, but the inhabitants all over the valley
suffer the same. The men worked for 6 hours a day in the ditches round the fort, but they
do not appear to have suffered more than the rest of the garrison who did not work. The
heat in the middle of the day was very great during September and October, and after the
sun went below the hills it became very chilly. We never needed punkahs, and a blanket was
required at night. I consider that the great variation of temperature is the cause of the fever ;
whether it is the sole cause or no I cannot say. When the reports are made of the state
Quetta seas found in by the 1st Division on its passing, through, the filthy condition of the
place will be put down as the cause of the diarrhoea and dysentery. When I went back to
Quetta some days after the 2nd Division had passed through, it certainly was in a filthy state;
this was caused by the limited establishment of mehters left in the station after all the regi-
ments had passed through. Before the troops came up, each officer took good care that his
compound was not made a latrine of, and the Commanding Officer saw that his lines were kept
clean. On the regiments leaving Quetta they took their mehters with them, leaving the
place almost destitute of that invaluable servant. Latrines sprang up all over the place, and
every enclosed unoccupied spot was used. by the native as a place of call. Hundreds of camels
came into the station, and quite 30 per cent. died there ; there were not men enough to bury them,
and there was not wood enough in the country to burn them, so they remained where they died,
and it was not until the elephants came up that these carcases were removed outside the bound-
ary pillars and there allowed to rot. These nuisances did not exist when the sickness was
at its height. The latrines were at a distance, and were kept as clean as in any station in India.
The fever was severe, but with the exception of a little weakness it did not appear to leave
my after-effects. If the garrison had been properly clothed before it marched, the deaths would
not have been so great. The Quetta troops were the only men who were not supplied with the
Government allowance, viz., 1 blanket, 1 jersey, 2 pairs of socks, and. a pair of gloves, and. these
were the only regiments who suffered.
XVII. Principal causes of mortality .—Diarrhœa (7), dysentery (3), debility (3), pneumonia
(3). Diarrhœa was produced more from the bad water.
XXI. Special obsercations and remarks.— The reports of the Quetta garrison of 1878, viz.,
1st Punjab Infantry, 32nd Pioneers, 5th. Company, Sappers and Miners, 3rd Peshawar Mountain
Battery, and one squadron of 2nd Punjab Cavalry, taken with that of 1877, will show that the
present site of the cantonments, or rather that Quetta and the Shawl valley, are most unhealthy
places. General Nott in 1839 had to abandon the present Site for one to the north of the fort.
Although this camp was on high ground, with a deep shingly soil, he suffered very much.
Certainly the fearful amount of filth of sorts which has been buried in and around Quetta
during the last six months will not increase the healthiness of the place.