( 19 )
A respectable native, if possible a Brahmin, would have much more influence
amongst the people of Benares (city) than any European, and he would understand
better, if a resident of the city, how to work through the intricate streets and lanes.
It would seem to me that some pressure (and it need not be heavy) ought to be
brought to bear on all chowkeedars and putwarrees to compel them to have their
children vaccinated ; and once this was done, the villagers would soon follow suit. In
some districts, Ghazeepore for instance, there seems to be little or no prejudice against
vaccination, and I should not be surprised to find in a very few years that the entire
population (city excepted) was protected.
I supposed at one time that a vaccinator working in his own district would be
more likely to succeed, owing.to his knowledge of place and people than a stranger;
I supposed, too, that any smart intelligent man might almost at once, and without any
great previous training, be made a good vaccinator. My late tour has shown me that
I was wrong in both these opinions.
The greatest amount of work and the best work has almost invariably been done
by old vaccinators from the hills or Rohilkhund. One hill Brahmin at Hatta, in
the Goruckpore District, is positively worshipped by the villagers, and he can do
exactly as he pleases with them. It would be unfair, however, not to mention that
he has received the greatest possible assistance from the tuhseeldar, Lalla Sheosunker
Lall.
Benares.—Operations were commenced in this district fully a fortnight later than
usual, as the vaccine tubes forwarded by me in October, in accordance with the
instructions of the Superintendent-General, were never received by the native super-
intendent. In all the other districts they were received in proper time, and I am at a
loss to understand how they miscarried here. Every investigation was made without
eliciting anything to show what had become of the missing tubes. My own impression
is, that they were stolen by one of the vaccinators, with a view to injuring the native
superintendent. In spite of this delay, there is an increase of 661 operations as com-
pared with last year, which does not, however, count for much, as there were ten vac-
cinators employed this year, only eight last year.
Mirzapore.—Here there is an increase of 446 as compared with last year. As,
however, there was one more vaccinator this year than last, the increase is more
apparent than real.
Bunga Singh heads the list with 2,536 operations; this is more than 1,000 less
than his work last year. He is a very active, energetic vaccinator, and has considerable
prestige as a man of good family and notorious bravery. He is not, however, as has
been supposed, a brother of a rajah—merely a very distant relative. He once had
some small property, which he lost or squandered, hence his being now in Govern-
ment employ.
The vaccinator at Chunar was dismissed for inefficiency : the loss of his situation
did not, however, weigh heavily on him, as he almost immediately obtained service in
his more legitimate sphere of khidmutgar. The employment of these low class Mussul-
mans in the department is much to be deprecated, and I regret that there are still a
good number of them in the Benares Division.
The man at Ahrowra made several false entries, which I at once detected. His
intense astonishment at the ease with which he was found out, and the apparent
sincerity of his repentance, induced me not to dismiss him, and he has since done good
work. I was obliged to dismiss one of the two municipal vaccinators at Mirzapore :
this man did no work whatever ; he did not even pay me the compliment of making a
few false entries, just for the sake of keeping up appearances.