Exercise,
amusements and occupa
-tions.
Marches and
service.
Hospital.
Sickness,
mortality and
invaliding.
241
EASTERN FRONTIER DISTRICT.
is worn. This arrangement is found best suited to climate, season, and the duties the men have
to perform. The boots in use are English-made, of the army ammunition pattern, and are
all that can be desired. The undress clothing worn by the men is sufficient.
Boots.
XI. Duty and employment. —The duties the regiment has performed during the year
have been arduous and unremitting, but rarely so harassing or severe as to exercise any ap-
preciable bad influence on the health of the men, Up to the middle of April, the bulk of the
corps was on field service with the Duffla and Naga Expeditions, and had to undergo the
inevitable hardships attendant on hill warfare. On their return to cantonments, they were
constantly employed during the entire hot and rainy seasons constructing their lines. This
finished, the drill season with musketry commenced, so that there has been, no period of rest
from almost continuous duty during the whole year.
Duty and
employment.
The average number of nights in bed for each grade was—Native officers 4.33, havildars
4.80, naicks 4.72, buglers 4.66, sepoys 5.5.
Nights in bed.
XII. Exercise, amusements and occupations. —The remarks I made under this heading
last year apply equally to the period under review. The men were so constantly employed on
duty that there was no time left for amusements or other occupations. A few of the sepoys
endeavoured to find "shikar" on Sundays, but not with much success. No gardens have been
started by the men, and any attempt on the part of their officers to encourage their doing so
would be quite fruitless while the present system of frequent relief continues. The sepoys
are unsettled and take no interest in any station from which they know they will be removed
in one or two years.
XIII. Marches and service.—A detachment of 2 officers and 252 men was employed on
field service with the Puffin Expedition from January 1st to February 23rd. A detachment
of 5 officers and 322 men was on service with the Naga Field Force from February 27th to
April 11th. A small party of men under a native officer acted as escort to the late Lieutenant
Holcombe's survey in the Eastern Naga Hills from January 1st to February 7th. Twelve of
their number were killed or died of wounds received in the massacre at Nime on February 2nd.
A full account of the camps, places, incidents of service, &c., &c. by detachment on field
service has already been given in the special reports of the .Duffla and Naga Expeditions.
XIV. Hospital. —The hospi t al at head- quar t er s and det achment s have been descr i bed i n
former reports. No additions or alterations were made during the year. All the hospital build-
ings were maintained in good order and repair. The only instance of over-crowding occurred
in March and April, when the head-quarters hospital was used as a depôt hospital for the sick
and wounded of the Naga Field Force. As the building is so admirably ventilated, no evil
resulted from the over-crowding.
XV. Sickness, mortality and invaliding .—Strength of the regiment—
Present
812.91
Absent
69. 08
Total
881.99
STATION.
PERIOD.
Strength.
TOTAL NUMBER
OF
D a i l y
average
number of
sick.
PER CENT. OF STRENGTH
PER ANNUM.
From
To
Admis- sions. Deaths.
Admis- sions. Deaths. Daily
average sick.
Head-quarters at Dibrugarh 1st Jan. 1875 31st Dec. 1875 428.66 971 5 26.92 226.52 1.16 6 . 2 8
Detachment at Sadiya and
Pabamukh Ditto
Ditto
182.41 346 1 8.83 189.68 .54 4 . 8 4
Ditto at Golaghat
Ditto
Ditto
54.77 125
2.90 228.22
5.29
Ditto at Jaipur
Ditto
27th Aug. 1875 44
60
1.47 208.15
3 . 3 4
Dittowith Naga Field
Force
5th Mar. 1875 11th Apl. 1875 322
53
7.81 157.52
2 . 4 2
Ditto with Duffla
Field Force 1st Jan. 1875 23rd Feb. 1875 152
68 1 5.67 302.13 4.39 3.73
TOTAL
812.91 1,623 7 41.64 199.65 .86 5.12
Number of deaths in hospital, 7; out of hospital, 19; total, 26; per cent. of total strength
2.94
„ invalided 21; „ „
2.38
„ sent on sick leave 12; „
„
1.36
„ of days spent in hospital, 15,199; per admission, 9.36; per man of total strength 17.23
„ „ on sick leave, 2,908; per man, 242.33; „
„
3.29
Total temporary loss of-service per man of total strength
20.52
XVI. Principal causes of sickness. —The total number of cases treated in
hospital was considerably less than in 1874, or was 1,670 against 1,820. The
L2
Principal
causes of
sickness.