Movements of
the native
army.
Relief move-
ments.
Camps of
exercise.
Service
movements.
Famine duty.
Detachments
and escorts.
Influence of
camps of
exercise on
health.
Outposts.
viii
13. I shall now proceed to discuss briefly the various circumstances which
during the year influenced the health of the native army in the order in which
medical officers are required to report on them, and in which they have been
touched upon in previous reports.
14. The regiments of the native army have been unusually active in 1874.
Many of them were on the move at the commencement and close of the year
in course of relief. The local corps of the north-eastern frontier interchanged
their stations for the first time since their formation. To these movements
an increase of both sickness and mortality is attributed by the medical officers in
charge of them, but despite of this I would be very loath to view the principle
unfavorably ; as a rule, the health of men generally improves under canvas,
and even in boats I have seen most marked benefit result. Several of the re-
giments of the Punjab Frontier Force also moved on relief. There were several
gatherings of troops for the purpose of combined exercise and drill. There
was a camp at Roorkee at the commencement of the year, another at Punea-
lah near Shaikh Budin, in the Tazee Valley, in January and February ; and
small camps were formed at Rawulpindee and Peshawur at the close of the year.
Some of the Kohat regiments were sent on service to Thull, in the Miranzai
Valley in February, and the campaign into the Duffla Hills took place in the cold
weather of 1874-75. One whole regiment (the 32nd Pioneers) and consider-
able detachments of nine others were employed on famine duty in the districts of
Behar from March to October. In addition to these movements, which involved
whole battalions or large sections of them, there was a constant movement
throughout the year of detachments and escort parties. There can be no
question that these movements, probably from accidental causes, do occa-
sionally seem to affect the health of regiments injuriously ; but they are
incidents of ordinary service, and, though they have been more numerous in
the year under report than usual, it is satisfactory to note that the sickness and
death-rates are also lower than usual. The famine duties and Duffla service
undoubtedly caused an increase of sickness and mortality among the men
employed on them, but there is no evidence to show that the camps of exercise
were otherwise than favorable to health, as other similar gatherings have hitherto
been. Much of the sanitary success of these camps depends on the careful
weeding of sickly men out of regiments ; and if, in addition to this precaution,
sanitary matters are properly attended to, experience has amply demonstrated
the absence of any special risk connected with them. Service at unhealthy
outposts, where, moreover, medical care and comforts are not so good as at head-
quarters, affects the vital statistics of many regiments unfavorably. This must
also be looked upon as one of the exigencies of ordinary service, and I have no
particular observation to offer on the subject beyond expressing my belief that the
best subordinate available with the regiment should invariably be chosen for
independent duties. Full and exact details of all movements are given in the
reports of medical officers.
Topography
and meteoro
- o g y .
Heavy rain
on the Punjab
Frontier.
Rise of the
subsoil water
at Meerut.
15. There is nothing very noteworthy in the information recorded by
medical officers regarding the physical and meteorological peculiarities of
stations. Topographical details have been, with some few exceptions, excluded
from this report, because, unless they are shown to have special relation to
the events of the year, they are apt to add greatly and unprofitably to the
bulk of the report ; and they have, as regards most stations, been given with
more or less detail in previous volumes. The hot season appears everywhere to
have been mild. The rains made their appearance earlier than usual ; in some
stations an excess of rain is noted, in others a deficiency ; but in no case was
the departure from the average extreme or remarkable. Along the Punjab
Frontier there was an unusually heavy fall, which was specially remarked at
Rajanpore and Mooltan, where any slight excess is apt to cause the irrigation
canals to overflow and soak the intervening country, thus causing an excessive
prevalence of malarious disease. An unusually high flood of the Ganges and
Sone is alluded to in the reports from Allahabad and Dinapore. The rise of
the subsoil water in the Meerut district alluded to at page 87, is an important
observation. The circumstance appears to depend on irrigation, and may have
an important bearing on the increasing prevalence of fevers, to which allusion
has already been made. The cultivation of trees in stations like Jhansi,
Meean Meer, and Peshawur, is a good measure and making progress. The in-