5
were constructed of branches of trees thatched with the long coarse grass that
is abundant almost everywhere along the road: they were generally placed on
high rocky ground and were not much crowded together, the several gangs of
which a large party would be composed keeping in a measure separate from
each other.
13. Their hours of work were from 6 a.m.. to 6 p.m., with two hours
rest in the middle of the day. During this rest they cooked their mid-day meal
indeed their only regular meal in the 24 hours, though portions were generally
reserved for the evening. Their practice, as described to me by one of the over-
seers, was immediately on, breaking off from their work, to rush, to the stream or
other source of water-supply and drink, a large quantity of water; they then set
to work to prepare the food, which occupied them about an hour, and for the
remainder of the time of rest they slept. The staple food of the poorer classes in
this tract of country consists of kodoo and kootkee, cheap kinds·, of millet, of
which they are able to purchase a quantity sufficient to " fill their bellies " at a
low rate. 1½ lb to 2 lbs. of this made into chuppaties, a small quantity of some
vegetable food (bajee) mixed with a Hule salt, chillies, or other condiment,
constitutes the ordinary daily food of the population. The coolies employed on
the road, however, receive good wages, and as both men and women, and even the
older children were employed, and as, moreover, prices in the early part of the
year were somewhat below the average, the coolies were able to purchase better
food, and a large proportion made use of wheat instead of the cheaper grains. In.
fact it may be taken for granted that the coolies were well cared for and fairly
treated, it being the interest of the mates that they should be so, for labour-
being scarce in that part of the country, the gangs are with difficulty collected,
and if their condition were not in a considerable degree bettered, by their em-
ployment they would at once desert to their homes.
14. An estimate of the state of the weather at the time of the outbreak,
of cholera may be formed by inspection of the accompanying abstract of meteor-
ological observations taken at Nagpore, the nearest locality at which any com-
plete and reliable observations had been taken. Nagpore indeed is upwards of 100
miles distant from the locality in which the outbreak, of cholera occurred, and at
an elevation lower by some 500 feet ; but, on the other hand, the locality in which
cholera broke out is a valley probably the lowest between Seonee and the Ner-
budda ; the soil and geological formation are the same as at Nagpore ; and as re-
gards the amount of rain, the registers at Lucknadown, the tehseel station 8 miles
to the north, and at Seonee 28 miles to the south, are both, as at Nagpore, blank
for the months of April and May. The abstract given, with a slight diminu-
tion of temperature on account of elevation, may therefore be considered to
represent approximately the meteorological conditions prevalent over the whole
tract of country. As regards barometric pressure, there are no data for com-
parison with previous years ; the monthly registers for the year show the gradual
decline of barometric pressure from January to June in accordance with the
annual wave, and this is neither interrupted or accelerated previous to, or at the
time of, the outbreak of cholera.
15. The observations of solar radiation recorded in the table are made
with a black bulb thermometer in vacuo. A black bulb freely exposed would
indicate a temperature from 25° to 30° lower, and this probably would represent-
the effect of the suas rays on. the surface of the ground.
The mean temperature of the month of April 1863 was 1°5 above that of
April 1867; for the 1.0 days including the date of the out break the difference was
more considerable.