Quetta.
The Frontier
expedition.
March of the
3rd Goorkhas.
Surefooted-
- ness of camels
Hospitals.
New hospitals.
Improve-ment.
Deficiencies.
Hospital
accommoda-
tion at
Quetta.
xvi
to Quetta (p. 136) ; and Surgeon A. H. Williams has, in the report of the 3rd
Peshawar Mountain Battery, recorded some instructive notes on the topography
and climate of this station. It is premature to pronounce on the salubrity
or otherwise of Quetta ; but the details indicate that very special attention
will have to be paid to the accommodation and clothing of the troops. The
Frontier expedition had not come to a close at the end of the year ; and the
reports of medical officers for the current year will, no doubt, discuss the
medical and sanitary aspects of the expedition as a whole. This volume con-
tains interesting notes regarding the circumstances of the service, as far as it
had gone, by the officers in medical charge of the regiments engaged. These
notes make it clear that the native troops underwent fatigue and exposure
to sun and rain and cold with admirable spirit, and without any material injury
to health. I would invite special attention to the report of Surgeon-Major
W. S. Caldwell, which gives an excellent account of the sanitary circumstances
of the expedition, as far as the 27th Native Infantry was concerned. Surgeon-
Major Govan, in his report of the 3rd Goorkhas, relates an interesting expe-
rience. While the regiment was returning, in February, from the Imperial
Assemblage at Delhi, it encountered a snow-storm on the hills, which was so
severe as to delay its progress for five days. The health of the men did not
suffer any harm under these circumstances ; though the sick and followers were
not so fortunate. Dr. Govan's account of the sure-footedness of the camel does
not consort with general experience. But it is important to know that this
mode of carriage does not fail even in snow and slush on the hills. Experiences
such as these prove to demonstration, that the Native Army is composed of
material of excellent mettle, and is equal to whatever kind of service it may
be called upon to perform, and able to surmount whatever difficulties and
hardships service may entail.
27. Many important improvements have taken place during the year in
hospital accommodation. New hospitals of a superior description have been
completed for the Cavalry regiments stationed at Allahabad and Nowgong ; for
the Infantry regiment at Benares, and for the 2nd Goorkhas at Dehra Dun.
Descriptions of these will be found in the reports, which indicate that they are
admirably adapted to their purpose, and fulfil all the sanitary requirements of
the day. Radical alterations have also been made in the Infantry hospitals at
Jullundur, Ferozepore, and Rawalpindi, tending greatly to improve them.
New Infantry hospitals have been commenced at Morar and Dera Ismail
Khan, and sanctioned for the Cavalry regiment at Morar and one of the
Infantry regiments at Agra. Many minor improvements have also been accom-
plished, which are calculated to promote the comfort and welfare of the sick :
such as the provision of coarse chicks and jhamps for the openings in veran-
dahs, the insertion of fine chicks and purdahs in the doors, the erection of
stoves and fire-places, the division of two large wards by partitions, and the
erection of out-houses and isolation wards. In many stations wants still exist.
Accommodation for hospital subordinates and servants is in many cases
reported to be insufficient ; and the hospitals occupied by the 20th Native
Infantry at Peshawar and the 18th Native Infantry at Buxa are pronounced
to be bad. The addition of a Zanana enclosure to the quarters of married
hospital assistants is a thoughtful measure, which must encourage the comfort
and respect of these useful officials. In some hospitals built on the old
standard pattern, as that occupied by the 39th Infantry at Meerut, the 28th
winter season, be either very cold or very dark. The insertion of a few panes
of glass in the doors would exclude the cold, without depriving the inmates of
the benefit and comfort of light. This is a measure to be most strongly
advocated on sanitary and humanitarian grounds ; and I trust the present year
may not be allowed to close without the necessary orders having been sanc-
tioned. The augmented comfort of the sick in hospital will be out of all
proportion to the money outlay required. Warmth and light cannot at present
be enjoyed together, during the winter season in Upper India, by the sick in
the ordinary. Native Infantry hospital. Hopital accommodation has not as
yet been provided for the troops at Quetta, and the sick were treated in tents
and huts. The supply of blankets and pillows, under the provisions of G. G. 0.