26
July, and the last on the 14th ; in this interval 32 deaths occurred. The population
is 359. The first case was a Gond woman, living near the well. There is no evidence
of the disease having been imported. The source of water for drinking is a well
sunk in the bank of a nullah that contained stagnant, foul water, and which is much
defiled by the people ; the water in the well was 10 feet from the surface oí the
ground, and at about the level of the water in the nullah ; the bore was for the first
four feet through soil, the rest through soft moorum or gravel. The Police were
called upon by the Deputy Commissioner to report on this village, and the
following is a translation of the Police report :—
"This village is always kept clean, and it has only one deep well outside,
the water of which is used by all the villagers ; but there was one thing very
remarkable, which is worthy of notice, i. e., the water of this weil during the
period cholera had raged here changed its colour and looked quite black, and
with it there was a difference in its "taste also. There being no other well the
people were obliged to use this water, and the consequence was that they com-
plained of indigestion ; but of late the water resumed its former colour and taste,
and now there is no such complain. There is a nullah close to the village, but
the water in it is always dirty, and no one uses it. Though cholera had visited this
village twice on former occasions, causing deaths of 4 and 5 at each time of its
visit, still the well water never changed its colour as it has done this year."
91. Hinnotia, —a large village of about 500 inhabitants, on the Sagur
river, the water of which the people drank. This village does not appear in the
reports, but the people informed me that 15 deaths had occurred there.
92. Balleewarra,—a village on the Sagur, on alluvial soil ; population
244. There are three good wells the water in which was 25 feet from the surface in
November ; in a good rainy season it rises 12 feet higher. The people of the
village use water from the wells, but there is a separate tola inhabited solely
by Gonds, who drink water from the river only. The first person attacked was
an Aheerun, who had been out tending cattle, and came home ill; she recovered,
and another person attacked in her house also recovered. The disease then
attacked the Gonds in the tola, and 14 deaths occurred among them in 34 days ;
3 died in one house ; the first death was reported on the 10th July.
93. The villages of Choulwarra and Rogan, on deep alluvial soil, opposite
each other on the bank of the river, and depending on the river for water, both
suffered from cholera slightly, but they do not appear in the reports. As far
as these villages the substratum is metamorphic, and the river flows on a sandy
bed between steep clay banks.
94. The villages of Kyra and Myra arc situated on either bank of the
stream, and about 100 yards apart. Kyra, on the right bank, is on deep blacksoil ;
the right bank is rocky and rising somewhat abruptly ; and Myra is built on base
trap rock. There is no well in either village and both depend on the river for water—
bathing, and washing clothes, and drawing their drinking water from the same
pool. The bed of the river at the ford between the villages is base basalt, with
a narrow streamlet flowing over it, and stagnant pools above and below. Cholera
was first reported on the 5th June. The first cases occurred in Kyra,—three or four
persons had been with the Malgoozar to Seonee, and returned on Sunday (31st
May); the next day two men (Burhaees) living in different parts of the village
were attacked. None of those who had been to Seonee had been ill. In Myra the
first person attacked was the Kotwal's wife; the next the Patel. In Kyra, out of
a population of 362, 24 cases and 20 deaths were reported. In Myra, out of
a population of 273, there were 20 cases and 13 deaths ; the mortality being 5½
and 4½ per cent of the population respectively. No cases were reported after the
5th June; on the 3rd June there was a heavy fall of rain.