Clothing.
Marches and
service.
108
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BENGAL,
Water-supply
offensive. During the halt of the regiment at Rajanpore, great efforts were made to remedy the
unsatisfactory sanitary condition of the camp, but this was rendered difficult by there being only
one mehter allowed for each troop. At my recommendation the camels were utilized for carrying
away stable litter, but the camel-drivers objected to their camels being employed for this purpose ;
as soon as it was dry enough it was burnt.
VIII. Water-supply.—The water-supply at Meean Meer was the same as in the two pre-
vious years. The cold water well in the artillery lines was duly filled with canal water and
closed in during the cold weather, and furnished a good supply of cool water for the hot season:
On the march the water-supply, chiefly from wells, was fairly good and sufficient, and no incon-
venience was felt until the regiment reached Lalgoshi, but after this there were several places
where it was scarce and of bad quality., At the time the regiment marched, there was no water
at all to he had on the road between the following stages :—
Lalgoshi to Bandowalla .
. .
.
.
.
16 miles,
Bandowalla „
Kabridhani . .
. .
. . 23 „
Lote
„
Dera Bughti .
.
. .
.
l7 ”
Dera Baghti „
Sanghila
.
.
.
.
.
.
21 „
Dingan
,,
Lehri
.
. .
. . .
19 „
Lehri
„
Mittri
.
. .
.
. .
28 „
Dasht-be-doulat to Sir-i-ab
.
.
. .
.
.
16 „
but camel "pakhals" at the rate of 3 per troop and 4 for the hospital were provided, and each
dandy had a " chagul " attached to it, and each sowar had a small leather 'mussuck' to go under his
horse's belly, and a soda-water bottle encased in leather and carried by a strap across the shoulder.
The latter were very heavy, and contained only a small quantity of water, and, in my opinion, are
not so good as the circular tin bottles encased in cloth with which some regiments were supplied.
A brigade order was issued directing strong guards to be placed over water where there are pools,
and no animals to be allowed to go into the water or drink from the source from which the
men's drinking water comes.
IX. Diet.—After crossing the frontier the men received the following ration daily :—
Attabh . .
.
. . .
.
. .
.
.
1 seer,
Dhal . .
.
.
.
.
.
. . . .
2 chittacks,
Ghee . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
. .
.
1 chittack,
Salt . .
.
.
.
. .
. .
. .
⅓ "
and the followers received the same, except that they had only half a chittack of ghee. The
articles were generally of good quality, but the attah was coarse from large mixture of bran,
and as this was sifted out before cooking, it reduced the value of the ration: Stones and other
foreign substances were found. in some of the ghee kegs. At first there was some difficulty in
getting any rice for the sick, which was much needed for cases of dysentery. Some rum was
issued to the native officers, and on one or two occasions to the men, but not on my recommenda-
tion. Scarcely any milk was procurable after crossing the frontier, and this, as well as the want
of sweetmeats, was much felt by the natives.
X. Clothing.—The clothing of the men was the same as last year up to the commencement
of the cold weather, when cotton-wadded coats were made up for them, and in November they
were supplied with warm puttoo pyjamas, Loodiana socks and gloves, and warm putties, and
on December 21st they obtained free from the Commissariat two pairs of warm English socks,
1 warm English jersey, and I Meerut blanket, in accordance with No. 789K., dated 9th Novem-
ber 1878, from Secretary to Government of India, Military Department, to Adjutant General in
India. The waterproof sheets (Cawnpore) sanctioned in the above letter were only received
by a few of the men, and the 15 per cent. of poshteens for men on guard had not been received
at the close of the year. The cold at night was so great at the latter part of December that the
whole of this clothing was required, and was perhaps in some cases insufficient, but unless care-
fully looked after, natives are very careless in putting on the clothing they have and changing it
at the proper times of the day, and often leave their coats and jerseys unbuttoned over the
front of the chest when the temperature is at the lowest.
XIII. Marches and service. —On December 3rd the regiment marched to Mithankote, and
after halting there two days to complete its equipment, commenced on December 6th its march
towards Afghanistan, taking 15 days' provisions with it and escorting a convoy of 200 camels,
and leaving a detachment of 50 men to follow in a few days with another convoy, which joined
the head-quarters again at Dadur. The march through the dry and sterile country of Beloo-
chistan was a trying and arduous one, the stages were, many of them, of necessity very long
from the absence of water, the roads lay often up the stony beds of dry rivers and watercourses,
sometimes through heavy sand and at others over bare desert plains, where the mirage was
frequently seen. Trees were few, consisting chiefly of patches here and there of Tamarisk
z i z y p h u s , . A c a c i a a r a b i c a , C a p p a r i s a p h y l l a , P r o s o p i s s a l v a d o r aa n d g i g a n t i c m u d a r s . S h r u b s
of different kinds of Lana ( Salsolacea), good dry forage grass for horses, and the tall moonj grass,