( 42 )
or two days and afterwards eaten freely, chiefly large quantities of sweet-
meats. It is particularly to be observed that nearly the whole of the northern
part of the district escaped the disease, which did not seem to follow the
main line of traffic.
Chota Nagpur.—In the whole tract of country from Palamow to the
Hazaribagh borders and from Ranchi to the Palamow borders and in Lohar-
dugga, cholera was very prevalent from April to August, and many deaths
were reported. In Palamow 2,000 cases are supposed to have occurred between
the 19th April, when the epidemic commenced, and the 15th July; of 378
cases treated 111 proved fatal. At Ranchi, where cholera had shown itself in
the bazar every now and then since March, the disease re-appeared on the
3rd August.
Bhagalpur.—Cholera appeared first in this district on the 3rd February
in the persons of two police constables who had arrived from Purneah and
Sahibganj. During the month of February the disease appeared at Katauria
on the 13th, at Kumarganj on the 22nd, and at Kolgaon on the 26th, all in
widely different directions, but to the south of the river; after this the disease
appeared simultaneously in numerous places no th of the river, and this
part of the district was much more affected than the southern portion; by
the middle of April the disease had reached its greatest intensity, and many places
suffered very severely, all the circles on the main line of traffic north of the
river were affected. The disease continued to rage till the end of May, when
it gradually subsided, until its final disappearance in October. No part of
the district escaped altogether, but the northern was affected much more
severely than the southern portion, and the station of Bhagalpur itself was
comparatively exempt ; here the land is comparatively high. The first case
within the Bhagalpur Municipality, the area of which is about 8 square miles,
with a population of over 60,000, occurred on the 3rd March 1869 ; there were
reported 79 deaths out of 246 cases. In the local dispensary 148 cases with 21
deaths were treated from January to September inclusive. Among the police—
274 strong—there were 3 cases with 1 death. The following deaths were
reported in the district during 1869 :—
Months.
February
March
April
May
June
July
Deaths.
4
101
826
304
42
49
Months.
August
September
October
...
...
Total
Deaths.
21
5
6
1,358
Monghyr.—Cholera in this year spread over the entire district, but in a
very mild form. The disease first appeared on the 23rd March in the village
of Bilah adjoining the Bhagalpur district, in the north east and at the same
time in the extreme west in the direction of Tirhoot. In the south it appeared
on the 9th April at Fathipur, an isolated village in the hills. The first case
in the town of Monghyr itself occurred on the 9th January 1869, the patient
was a European railway passenger brought from Jamalpur, he recovered. The
first death in the town of Monghyr was reported on the 15th February, soon
after some camp followers of the Madras Native Infantry Regiment, sent from
Jamalpur, had died in the Monghyr hospital There was no epidemic of cholera
in the civil station. Among the municipal police—343 strong—one death from
cholera occurred on the 22nd April. On the occurrence of a thunder-storm,
which occurred on the 22nd April, three patients in a state of collapse im-
mediately revived in an unexpected manner. During the prevalence of the
epidemic an east wind prevailed for months at a time, when it used to have a
westerly wind. The following is the return of deaths reported in this district,
but the figures are considered to be under-rated :—
Months.
March
.
..
April
May
June
.
..
July
Deaths,
16
257
327
117
19
Months.
August
...
...
September
Total
Deaths.
43
1
780