POONA DIVISION OF THE ARMY.
21
stances. At Poona wheaten flour, dhall and meat were said to be rarely used by the families
on account of the high prices there prevailing. The men, however, generally fully appreciate
the necessity of suitable diet to maintain their condition for work, and when labouring on
road-making and opening the passes in Abyssinia, bartered part of their rice for goats
with the Shohoes, and that timely addition no doubt to a certain extent enabled them to
withstand the subsequent privation for weeks, when they had little more to depend on than
1 lb. of flour as daily subsistence, as ghee, dhall, rice, and mutton ceased to be available. It
is amongst Hindoostan men only that parsimonious habits occasionally interfere with due
outlay for food sufficient to preserve health. One glaring instance of this was met with in a
Hindoostanee, who went long fasting and stinted himself of his daily food ; this was brought
to the Commanding Officer's notice, who ordered that he should be provided sufficient food, so
as to prevent recurrence of debility and inefficiency.
The present lines were constructed by the 3rd Regiment N. I. in 1864, to afford accom
-modation for the head quarters of a Native Infantry regiment. They are built of sun-dried
bricks and tiled, and consist of 8 separate houses for Native Officers, 8 barracks for married
men, 8 barracks for unmarried men, of 160 and 192 huts respectively :—
Number. Length. Breadth. Height. Cubic-feet per
man.
Superf1.
area.
Height above
ground.
Native Officers' quarters .
8
34
35½
9
. . . . . . .
. . .
. . . . . .
Married men's huts ......
160
10
10
12
1,200 ft. 100 ft.
1 ¼
Unmarried men's huts ...
192
9
10
12 1,080 ft.
90 ft.
1 ¼
The date of construction of the regimental hospital is unknown ; it is situated to the
eastward of the lines and is surrounded by a prickly-pear hedge. The roof is double tiled, and
it is ventilated by windows, doors, and by two apertures in the roof; it has accommodation for
24 beds, but when there is increase in the number of sick, they are provided for by placing
them in the western verandah. The ward is surrounded by a built-up veranda 8 feet in width
which has 10 windows and 3 doors. The eastern portion of the verandah is divided into
rooms for stores, dispensary, &c. The ventilation of the building was originally defective,
but has been improved by having two apertures made in the roof, in 1839 :—
N u m b e r o f
w a r d s .
N u m b e r o f
b e d s .
L e n g t h . B r e a d t h .
H e i g h t . Cubic
contents.
Superficial
area.
Cubic
contents
per bed.
Superficial
area per
bed.
Height
above
ground.
Regimental Hos-
pital ............
1
24 95¾ 21¾ 12 24,990½ 2,082½
1,041 87 sq. ft. 2 1 / 3
There is no dead-house or isolation ward, but these can now be dispensed with, as some
of the buildings vacated by the Artillery will be available for the purpose. The latrine is
situated to the north-east of the hospital and 30 x 15 feet in the interior, and is provided
with iron pans. Behind the hospital there are two ranges of subsidiary buildings ; the first
was an open pendal 8 feet in width, which was used as a cook room, but has since been enclosed
and converted into quarters for the hospital establishment, leaving the end portion still
available for cooking purposes.
The quarter guard and solitary cells consist of two rooms and two cells. Their dimen
-sions are :—
Length. Breadth. Height.
1 Large room............... 40 ft. 21¾ ft. 10¼ ft.
1 Small room............... 10 ft. 21¾ ft. 10¼ ft.
2 Cells ...............
10 ft. 10 ft. 15 ft.
6 s