177
PUNJAB FRONTIER FORCE.
Kohat and Gumbut in the blockade of the Jowakis. On the 9th of November the head-quarters
and about 270 rifles marched from Kohat as part of the Jowaki field force under Brigadier
General Keyes, C.B., and have been engaged up to the end of the year in the various opera-
tions against the Jowakis, conducted by that officer. The men have undergone a good
deal of hardship and exposure, on numberless pickets and guards often in bitter cold and drench-
ing rain, besides being but lightly provided for in the way of bedding. The commissariat
arrangements were, however, good; the supply of food was abundant and of excellent quality;
and to this fact I attribute in great part the excellent health enjoyed by the men.
XIV. Hospital.—The building has been kept in good repair; the accommodation is ample,
the lighting and warming are as described last year; the north-western verandah and verandah
rooms are at present being rebuilt; their foundations having sunk, they were pronounce
d unsafe by the Executive Engineer.
XV. Sickness, mortality and invaliding.—Strength of the regiment—
Present
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. 614.08
Absent
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. 128.21
Total
.
. 742.29
Hospital.
Sickness,
mortality and
invaliding.
STATION.
P E R I O D .
Strength.
TOTAL NUMBER
O F
Daily
average
number of
sick.
PER CENT, OF STRENGTH
PER ANNUM.
From
To
Admis -
sions. Deaths.
Admis-
sions Deaths.
Daily
average
sick.
Head-quarters at Kohat
. 1st Jan. 1877 8th Nov. 1877
594.73
626
8
12.55 105.25 1.34
2.11
„
on field service . 9th Nov.
„
31st Dec.
„
Detachment at BahadurKheyl 2nd Jan.
„
7th Mar.
„
58.82
25
...
.98 115.76
...
1.66
Ditto
.
.
. 3rd July
„
9th Sep.
„
TOTAL
.
...
...
614.08 651
8
12.94 106 .01 1.30 2.10
Number of deaths in hospital, 8 ; out of hospital, 7 ; total
15 ; per cent. of total strength .
.
2.02
„
invalided
.
12 ;
„
„
.
1.61
„
sent on sick leave
.
.
.
6;
,,
,
.
.
0.80
„
of days spent in hospital, 4,724 ; per admission .
7.25 ; per man of total strength .
-
6.36
„ „
on sick leave, 1,343 ; per man
. 223.83;
„
„
.
.
1.80
Total temporary loss of service per man of total strength
.
8.16
XVI. Principal causes of sickness. —Malarial fevers as usual head the list as chief causes
of admissions, the number of admissions during the past year due to these causes being 307.
This, however, is a marked improvement on the year 1876, admissions from fevers amounting to
525. Intestinal fluxes cause the next largest number of admissions, viz., 85; none were .of a severe
nature: dysentery or diarrhœa in this part of the Punjab is rarely sufficiently severe to detain
a man in hospital more than ten days. Thirty-three admissions were caused by chest affections,
viz. 20 by bronchial catarrh, 6 by acute bronchitis, 2 by chronic bronchitis, 2 by pneumonia,
and one each by asthma; chronic pleurisy, and pulmonary phthisis. Out of these thirty-three
admissions, four cases terminated fatally, two of acute bronchitis, and one each of phthisis and
pneumonia. Twenty-seven admissions are returned under the head of sunstroke. All these cases
occurred on the 30th of August, when the men had to march for 22 consecutive hours, most of
the time in a blazing sun, without food or water, and carrying a rifle and fifty rounds of ammu-
nition. With one exception, all these cases returned to duty on the following day. Blistered
feet have caused 23 admissions during the past year, a very satisfactory result considering the
rough work the men have had. Contusions of the lower extremity caused 19 admissions;
ulcers and boils 33. There were but 3 cases of primary syphilis against 17 in 1876.
XVII. Principal causes of mortality. —One man was killed in action, and one died of his
wounds; penetrating gunshot wounds of the lung. Two cases of acute bronchitis proved
fatal, one of bronchitis supervening on quotidian ague, one of pneumonia, one of phthisis
pulmonalis, and one of jaundice, making a total of eight deaths in hospital. Seven deaths
occurred out of hospital; of these, three men were murdered by Jowakis on the Kooshialghur
road while proceeding to their homes on furlough; one man committed suicide while on sentry
duty; he put the muzzle of his rifle just below the ensiform cartilage and pressed the trigger
with his toe, and one man died of sunstroke at Jhund while returning by forced marches from
furlough. The cause of deaths in the remaining two cases is not known.
XVIII. Epidemics. —None.
XIX. Vaccination. —There were no cases of small-pox; 23 children were vaccinated during
the year.
Principal
causes of
sickness.
Sunstroke.
Principal
causes of
mortali ty.
Epidemics.
Vaccination.
U 1