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so far as I could ascertain, of the villages dependent on it for water throughout
its course, very few escaped from cholera.
To the east of Sehora, towards Koombhi, the villages of Moortha, Bundha,
Kuchranee and Deoree, all situated on the Hirun, suffered severely in the latter
end of June and in July ; the villages of Gurchapra, Negwanee, and the town of
Indrana, in the middle part of its course, have already been referred to. The date
of the prevalence of cholera in the town of Indrana is not shown in the return,
but in the village of Sunghneedeep, on the opposite bank and a little below, 16
deaths occurred in the end of June and beginning of July. The next village, about
four miles down the stream, is Goncearee ; midway between these two villages the
Pureyat joins the Hirun ; and the body of water in the latter is considerably in-
creased, but the Pureyat had been subjected to pollution by dead bodies almost
equally with the Hirun; and from Surra, near the junction, deaths from cholera
had been reported the last week in June and first week in July.
197. Goncearee is situated on high rocky ground above the Hirun ; the
water-supply is solely from the river, which is here rapid, flowing over a rocky
bed. This village first appears in the returns on the 9th July, when 11 cases and
3 deaths were reported. According to the returns, altogether 7 deaths occurred,
out of a population of 390, but the people say that many persons were attacked.
The first person attacked was a Gond, who had not left the village. Below
Goncearee the river forms a pool of considerable depth, and extending nearly to
the next village, Donee, rather more than a mile distant. It will be remembered
that into this pool the bodies of all that died of cholera at Morai, 50 or more
in number, were thrown ; of these, 16 were thrown in between the 23rd and
27th June. The first death from cholera at Donee was reported on the 30th
June ; and altogether 5 deaths occurred,—the Malgoozar, a Brahmin, and three
others. The village is small, containing a population of 150 only ; it is situated
on high ground, at some little distance from the river, but there is no other
water-supply. At this point the stream is divided by a low bank in the middle,
the greater portion flowing under the opposite bank; the smaller running under
Donee, over a bed of pebbles.
198. From this date there was a general increase in the prevalence of
cholera in the villages along the Hirun, from Donee downwards beyond Kymore,
a distance of 20 miles by the river. The out-breaks in the different villages,
however, were by no means simultaneous.
At Khujooree, the village 1½ mile below Donee, and on the same bank, 3
cases and 1 death were reported on the 30th June, and 22 deaths occurred in
a week or 10 days, out of a population of 272. From Loharee, on the opposite
bank, 10 cases and 7 deaths were reported on the 12th July; and altogether 17
deaths occurred, out of a population of 204·. From Unghora, 3 were reported on
the 16th; at Burailla a mile lower down, the first case occurred on the 7th.
From Hinnota, six miles from Donee, no deaths were reported till the 23rd
July ; and from Bindola, a mile lower down, a small village with a population of
90, one death only was reported on the 4th August. From Donee and Loharee
the river makes a sharp bend to the north, and all the last named villages are on
the right bank of the river, are small and situated on rough jungle ground close
under the Kymore range, and to some extent isolated.
199. At Kymore, a town with a population of 2,600, distant by the river
12 or 13 miles from Donee, but not more than 7 across country, the first case of
cholera occurred on the 30th June. On the 2nd July 3 cases and 1 death were
reported; but it was not until the 4th or 5th that the disease broke out severely.
On the latter date 20 cases and 11 deaths were reported, and by the 18th, 125
cases and 102 deaths had occurred,—altogether 120 deaths were reported The
people, however, say the number was nearer 200, but that the Kotwal having
been attacked, a large number of deaths were not noted. There is certainly a very