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flocked into Umarkot during the great scarcity which last year
prevailed in those districts. The present accommodation is very poor,
and ill-suited for the requirements of an important place like Umar-
kot ; but this will be so no longer, as a larger and excellent dispen
-sary is almost completed and ready for the reception, not only of the
ordinary patients, but also for the Police, who require a small separate
ward for themselves.
41. The Mittee and Nagar Parkar Dispensaries have been work
- i n g f a i r l y , a n d t h e y a r e p r o v i n g t h e m s e l v e s a c c e p t a b l e t o t h e p e o p l e
in these parts.
42. There are two other dispensaries remaining, the one at
Mahomed Khan’s Tanda, and the other at Mirpur Batora. These
require no special remark. They are under the charge each of an
active, well-informed hospital assistant. They are both working well,
the former showing a daily average of 35 patients, and the latter of 48.
I was glad to find that the medical subordinates at both these dispen
- s a r i e s w e r e e n j o y i n g t h e c o n f i d e n c e o f t h e p e o p l e a r o u n d t h e m .
43. In the previous portion of this report, vide paras. 16 and 17,
I confined myself to noting merely the strength, admissions, and
deaths of the prisoners confined in the large jails in the province
; I will now mention a few circumstances respecting the jails them
- s e l v e s , w h i c h I t h i n k s h o u l d b e b r o u g h t t o y o u r n o t i c e , a n d w i l l a t
the same time particularize some objectionable features in the sub
- s i d i a r y j a i l s , w h i c h i t w o u l d b e v e r y d e s i r a b l e t o h a v e r e m e d i e d .
41. With respect to the Kurrachee jail, considering the lowness
of its position, it is to be regretted that all the buildings inside the
enclosure had not been raised upon much higher plinths. When rain
falls it remains to be absorbed, not because drains do not exist, but
owing to the absence of a natural fall. At spring tides also the
whole place inside becomes affected, and although the prisoners’ sleep
- i n g p e n d a l l s a r e r a i s e d a f o o t f r o m t h e g r o u n d , t h e y a r e a t t h e s e
times always damp. The exception to this is found in the European
cells, and the hospital, which are dry. These have a plinth of two
feet, so that an extra foot all round would have prevented this evil.
45. The jail at Haidarabad demands special notice with regard to
its water supply. It is the weak point in the jail arrangments,
and under the present system it is thoroughly bad, both in respect to
the quantity and quality of the water used. This is derived from the
new Foolaili, distant 2 miles. It is conveyed in an open channel,
which not only causes great waste and diminution in its progress,
but exposes it likewise to contamination, as it is used while on its
course by the people of a small village half way. Then passing
through the jail wall the water, which left the Foolaili of fair quality
and in the quantity usually lifted by an ordinary Persain wheel, is
seen to dribble as a foul, greenish-brown, liquid into a tank below.
I was surprised to learn that it was used in this condition for all
domestic purposes without the least attempt being made to purify it ;
and as this might easily be done by passing the water through two