2_ 2.. f £ _ //VV # * * * ** 

f k 7 

* ON THE OF 1868. 

BY 

Dr. S. C. TWnsend, Sanitary Commissioner, Central Provinces and Bebabs. 

1869. 





W C E l?fc c l / : ~'/a. £ti>j, j-^c,. f 



XT ' 258 No. — -.- 

34 

From 

The ASST. SECY, to the CHIEF COMMISSIONER, 

Central Provinces, 

To 

The SANITARY COMMISSIONER, 

Central Provinces, 

Dated Nagpore, the Mh February 1870. 

Sir, 

I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your report on the cholera epidemic of 1868. This subject has already been discussed by you in a general manner in your last Annual Report on the sanitary condition of the Central Provinces, but the present report goes much more fully into details, traces the origin and follows the spread of the disease, and finally concludes with an exposition of the conclusions you have arrived at, regarding the conditions under which cholera becomes epidemic, and the measures which in your opinion are best calculated to prevent this. 

2. The Officiating Chief Commissioner has perused your report with much interest. It is evident that you have spared no pains to elicit all facts that might seem likely to throw light on the cause of the appearance of the disease in the towns and villages which you visited. You have also minutely noted the situation and sanitary condition of these places, and the Officiating Chief Commissioner cannot doubt that the facts which you have brought together and the information which you have acquired are of great value. 

3. Ihe third Section of your report is devoted to a review of all the facts brought under your notice, and contains at length the deductions therefrom, which you think can legitimately be made, and the views which you entertain regarding the spread of cholera. Your conclusions may be briefly summarized : — You are of opinion that facts go to show that the cholera which raged in the Central Provinces in 1868 was not locally generated, but was imported from outside, and diffused by means of human intercourse. That the epidemic spread only to a limited area, you attribute in a great measure to the fact, that the focus of the disease was not a large body of pilgrims assembled from all parts of the country, who thereafter dispersed carrying with them the disease in all directions to their own homes, bui that the focus was a small congregation of men, who for the most part did not disperse, and that in this case local traffic and intercourse of village with village caused the spread of the disease, but more slowly and over a smaller area than would otherwise have been the ease. 

4. You have found that neither extreme heat nor extreme dryness of atmosphere checks the development of cholera. And that the greatest mortality occurred in villages and places situated in soil of trap formation. Elevation and 



2 

dryness of site are therefore shown to be no protection against the invasion of the disease; and in your words — "it would appear that the infecting matter of ¦cholera cannot be always developed in the soil, for in the sites of these villages (those on a trap formation) generally, moisture and sub-soil water and even soil are non-existent." You go on to state and support your opinion that a " water supply containing organic impurities is the chief if not the sole condition under which cholera manifests itself." 

5. The Officiating Chief Commissioner thinks thatyoumake out a very strong casein support of your views. Impure water you consider predisposes persons — who imbibe it — to cholera; but in order to produce cholera a special contagion is necessary. What you assert is this, that " cholera will not prevail epidemically among the population of a tract of country where the water-supply is abundant and fairly protected from pollution." 

6. In therefore remarking on the measures which should be taken to prevent the diffusion of the contagion and remove the conditions under which personal susceptibility to contagion is induced, you lay by far the most stress on measures tending to produce the latter result, and above all on the procuring a sufficient and pure supply of water for every village and town. The diffusion of contagion can only be prevented by quarantine, and the impossibility of establishing and maintaining a strict quarantine is admitted by you. Anything less than strict quarantine is of no avail. 

7. A pure water-supply everywhere is then the great desideratum. Your proposal is to have " a well 30 feet deep, situated well away from nullahs and tanks that collect surface drainage, lined with masonry, in good repair, with a coping wall laid above the surface of the ground, and containing 4 feet of water in the hot weather. I should fix this as the standard of water-supply to be aimed at for villages, the number of such wells to be in the proportion of 1 for every 150 or 200 of the population." 

'8. You are aware that during the past year advantage was taken of the wells running dry, to deepen and repair them, and that many new wells were also made. The importance of the subject was fully realized and much was done by the local authorities in many districts The Officiating Chief Commissioner will draw the special attention of District Officers to the remarks made in the 295 th para, of your report, and they will be requested to call on Malgoozars and others to exert themselves in procuring for their villages such a water-supply as shall be pure, and sufficient for the wants of the inhabitants. An inspecting establishment such as you think necessary to report on the sanitary condition and water-supply of every village annually, cannot, the Officiating Chief Commissioner fears, be sanctioned at the present time, but the Officiating Chief Commissioner is of opinion that much may be done by District Officers. You yourself bear testimony to the fact that the general immunity of towns in the districts in which cholera prevailed, as compared with villages, is in a great measure to be attributed to the conservancy which has of late years been introduced by the District Officers. Hitherto more attention has perhaps been paid to the cleanliness of the surface in towns and other places, than to preserving from contamination the wells and other sources of the water. This particular point will now attract greater notice, and the Officiating Chief Commissisioner feels sure that goed results will be obtained. 

9. There are many interesting questions treated in your report oti which perhaps much might be said, but special knowledge would be necessary to deal with them ia a satisfactory mariner. The Officiating Chief Commissioner has therefore merely noticed briefly the results at which you have -arrived and titeir 



3 

practical bearing. Scientific men alone will be able to appreciate correctly the value and validity of your deductions and conclusions, but the Officiating Chief Commissioner desires to express his high sense of the indefatigable care and patience with which you have conducted your researches, and of the clear and practical manner in which you have embodied their result in this report. 

I have the honor to be, 

Sir, 

Your most obedient Servant, 

J. W. NEILL, 

Offg. Asst. Secretary, 





No. 369 

From 

The SANITARY COMMISSIONER, 

Central Provinces and Berars, 

To. 

The SECRETARY to the CHIEF COMMISSIONER, 

Central Provinces. 

Dated Nagpore, the Bth October 1869. 

Sir, 

I have the honor to submit for the information of the Chief Commissioner my report on the cholera epidemic of 1868. 

The report is divided into 3 Sections: — 

In Section I. is described the origin and spread of the epidemic among the gangs of labourers employed on the Northern road. 

In Section 11. the spiead of the epidemic among the general population. 

In Section 111. the history of the epidemic is reviewed and conclusions 

drawn with reference to the conditions that appear to favour the spread of the disease among the people and the measures that 

are required for the removal of those conditions. 

I have also appended two statements, one showing the rise and decline of the epidemic of the present year and the atmospheric conditions that prevailed during its continuance, the other showing the total mortality resulting from the epidemic in each district of the Province. 

I have the honor to be, 

Sir, 

Your most obedient Servant, 

S. C. TOWNSEND, 

Sanitary Commissioner. 





INDEX. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Para. Object of the Report ... .. ? ... i Cholera in the Central Provinces in former years ... ... 2 Measures taken to diminish its prevalence . . . . 3&4 SECTION I. Prevalence of cholera among the the coolies employed on the Northern Road. Liability of the districts of Seonee and Jubbulpore to visitation of cholera ... .. ... .. 5 Cholera in Benares and Mirzapore ... .. .. 6,7 8 Na^pore and Jubbulpore road ... ... .. 9,10,11 Coolies collected on the road ... . . . . 12,13 Atmospheric conditions at the time of the out-break of cholera ... 14 to 18 Health of coolies and general population prior to out-break ... 19,20 Description of locality in which first out-break occurred, and the number and distribution of the coolies employed there . . 21 to 27 Out-break of cholera ... .. .. ... 28 Cholera in the neighbouring 1 villages ... .. .. 29 Spread of cholera among the gangs along the road ? ... 30 Hoolkee valley . . ... . . ... 31 Gangs south of Gunneshgunj .. .. .. 32 Gangs on southern section of the road . . . . 33 to 43 Gangs that had dispersed, re-collected... . . , . 44 Keview of facts connected with the origin and spread of cholera among the coolies . . . . . . 45 to 5 i incident showing the possibility of th.c disease having been imported from Benares ... ? ? 52 SECTION 11. Diffusion of the epidemic among the general population. Nature of enquiry . . ? . . 53 Maps and Tables accompanying the Report . . 54 Extent to which the statistics are reliable zr. Information gathered from the people . . . # §q Slow progress of the epidemic ? 57 Districts in which it chiefly prevailed .. ... 53 General description of different parts of epidemic area . . 59 to 63 The trap formation . * . . , # 64 to 7? Out-break in the marriage party at Saleewarra . . 73 Do. do. do. at Kuladehi ... \\ 74 Immunity of the village of Khapa . f 7^ 



2 

SECTION ll.— Continued Para. Hoolkee . . . . . . . . . . 76 Dhoomah ... ... .. ... ? 77 Poonwarra . . ... . . . . . > 78 Prevalence at Lucknadown . . . . . . 79 Do, Sailooa .. .. ... .. 80 Do. Koorseepar . . .. .. ... 81 Do. Seliora . . . . . . . . 82 Do. Rana ... ... ... . . 83 Mohgaon ... ... .. .. . . 84 Seonee .. ... .. .. ... 85,86 Kaneewara ... ... ... . . . . 87 to 89» Khyree ... .. ... ... .. 90 Hinnotia .. . .. .. ... ... 91 Balleevvarra .. . . .. ... .. 92 Choulwara and Rogan ... . . . . . . 9 3 Kyra and Myra . . ... . . . . 94 Country east of the Sagur river ... . . . * 95 Burrora .. ... .. .. ... 96 Jugra ... ... .. . • •? 97 Lossa ... . « . . . • . 98 Country to north of Sagur river ... ... ... 99 Ghunsore .. .. .. ... .. 100 Soonwarra ... .. ... ... .. 102 Araa nullah ... ... ?. ... .. 103 Raipoora ... . . ... . * . . 104 Pindraye ... -. ... .. . • 105 Doondawanee .. ... ... ... ... 1O(> Keolaree .. ... ... ... ... 107 Kohkah .. .. .. ... •• IJ-<'S1 J -<'S Villages in Heerapore valley . . . . . . 109 Road from Heerapore to Mundla ... ... ... 110 The villages of Nadia, Palaygaon, and Kedarpore . . ... 11l The village of Maharajpore .. .. ... 112 Cholera in the town of Mundla .. .. .. 113 Contrast between Maharajpore and Mundla . . . . 1 1 4, 1 1 5 Isolated out-break in the Ramgurh tehseel .. . . 116 Road from Mundla to Jubbulpore ... .. .. 117 Villages on the Babeya nullah ? .. .. 118 Do. of Bhowul .. ... .. .. 119 Do. Goojher ... ... .. ... 120 Do. Beejagaon and Bumhnee .. ... ... 121 Do. Koomhar and Chamarwara . .. •• 122,123 Do. Narraingunj .. .. ... .. 124 Do. Pateyrah . . , ... ><•. 125 Do. Dunwahi ... ... .. .. 126,127 Country round Burrailla .. ... .. ... 128 The town of Burrailla ... .. ... .. 129 The village of Peepuria .. .. .. ... 130 Saleewarra ... .. .. ... ... 131 Kuttenghat . . . . . . ... . . 132 Several villages close to Jubbulpore Cantonment ... ... 133 Koondum Police Circle .. .. ... ... 134 Jubbulpore Cantonment ... ... .. ... JB5 to 137 Do. City ... ... .. .. 133,139 



3 

SECTION IT.— Continued. Para. Country north of Jubbulpore .. ... ? 140 Cholera in the village of Kichai . . . , . . 141 The Pureyat river. . . . . . . . ... 142 Villages of Mutamur and Burgowan .. .. .. 143 Do. lower down th^ river ... ... .. 144 Do. north of Pureyat ... .. ... ... 145 The town of Punagurh ... . . ... ... 146 The Northern road ... .. .. ... 147 Boragurh and villages on thp Boraofurh lake . . . . 148 Kailwas and villages on the Kardaye river . . . . 149 The vi'lage of Dhurumpore. . ... .. .. 150 Do. Gosulpore ... .. .. .. 151 The country round Gosulpore ... .. ?. 152 Villages on the Hagni, Barnoo and Hirun rivers ... . . 153 Opt break in the marriage party at Gurchapra . . . . 154 The village of Jinghrai •• .. ... ... 155 Do. Joonwanee . . ... . . ... 156 The town of Sehora ... . . . . . . 157 The village of Klmrawal .. .. .. ... 158 Do. Dursunee . . ... ... . . 159 Do. Gaora .. .. ... .. 160 The villages of Dhinara-Khummureah . . . . . . 161 The couiitrv to west of Sehora ... ... . . 162 The town of Mujhowlee . . . » ... . . 163 The villages round Mujhowlee ... ... ... 164 Do. on the Kyr river ... ... ... 165 The town of Indrana and villages in the neighbourhood ... 166 Nummary of ihe prevalence of cholera in the Sehora tehseel . . 167 The Koombhi pergunnah .. ... .. ... 168 The Bilheree do. . . . . . . . . 169 The villages of Sleemanabad and Hurdooa . . ? 170 Do. between Sleemanabad and Bilheree ... ... 171 The town of Bilheree .. .. ... .. 172 The villages in the neighbourhood of Bilheree . . ... 173 The town of Moorwarra .. ... .. ... 174 The villages in the neighbourhood .. ... .. 175 The Bijiragogurh pergunnah .. ... .. 17(5 'ihe alluvial tract of country west of Jubbulpore . . . . 177,178 Immunity from cholera of villges along the Nursingpore road . . 179 The villages of Bhittone . . . . ... . . 180 ?)o. Bhimkee .. ... .. ... 181 Do. Ghunsoor, Bhurdarwarra .. ... 182 Do. Kunwas-Piperia, and others on the same stream 183 Do. Burhia-khera and Simuria . . ... 184 Villages alonsf the Patun road ... ... .. 185 Cholera in the town of Patun .. .. .. 186,187 Do. village of Konee .. .. .. 188 The villages on the Dumoh and Saugor road ... ... 189 Russoiah and other villages . . . . . . 190 The village of Morai .. .. .. .. 191,192 The Hirun river .. .. ... .. 194 Pollution of the rivers by dead bodies ... . . . . 195 Great prevalence of cholera in the villages on the banks of the Hirun .. .. ... ••• ... 196 •Goncearee and Donee .. .. ... «• 197 



4 

SECTION ll.— Continued. Para. Villages below Donee .. ... .., ,#, # 198 Cholera in the town of Ky more ? .., .. ]y<) The villages of Deoree and Mooria . , . . ... 200 The town of Kuttunghee ... ?. ? ?. 201 The villages below Ky more ... ... .. 20 2, Do. on the Mootureea ? ?. 2U3 The river below Konee ..- .. ? ... 204* The out-break at Kutra-Belkhera .. .. ... 20.5 The villages of Malla, Goobra, and Rujola . . , . 2<>f> Peepria-Khas and the villages in the neighbourhood . . 207 Bhyronghat and the villages on right bank of Hirun ... 2UB The Nerbudda river .. ... ... ? 209 The villages on the Nerbudda . . . . . 210 The villages of Sakur and Heerapore ... . . , , 211 The district of Nursingpore... .... .. .. 212 Soil and water system of Nerbudda valley ... . . 213,214 Cholera in the Saugor district ... ... . . 210 to 219 Cholera in the Nagpore district (Mr. Low's report on the epidemic of 1865) " . . ... . . ... 220 Comparative mortality in Nagpore district in 1865, 1868 and 1869 .. .. .. .. ... 221 Soil, sub-strata and water-supply of Nagpore district ... 222 The city of Nagpore ... . . . . . . 223 Cholera in former years ... .. .. ... 224 to 227 Do. in 1869 ... ... .. . , 228 Water-supply in the city of Nagpore . . . . ... 229 Excessive mortality among women in Nagpore . . , » 230,231 The effect of closing certain wells ... ? . . 232 SECTION 111. Review of the history of the epidemic, and conclusions with reference to the coi\ditions that ajipear to Jcuvour the spread of the disease among the people, and the measures that are required to remote those conditions. Keview of the history of the epidemic ?. .. ... 233 Diffusion of the choleraic influence by human intercourse ... 234 Diffusion slow and irregular . . ? . . 235 Do. unimpeded by natural barriers or prevailing winds ... 236 Do. confined to limits of local traffic ... .. 237 Importation by persons affected with the disease, and by marriage processions ... .. .. .. 2SB Importation by persons in apparent health ... ... 239 instance of the famine relief coolies in Raepore ... ... 240 to 242 Difficulty of applying quarantine measures ... ... 243/244 Effect of atmospheric conditions and diffusion of cholera ... 245 Extreme heat and dryness no obstacle to the development and spread of cholera ... ... ... .. 246 Cholera does not spread in all localities to which it is brought ... 2*7 - Conditions that favour the manifestation of Cholera ... 248 Elevation and dryness of site no protection against cholera .. 249 No relation between cholera and sub-soil water ... ? 250,251 



5 

Para, Impure water a common condition under which cholera prevails 252 Cholera commonly most prevalent in the hot weather ... 253 The epidemic of 1868 an exception to this rule .. ... 254 The rain-fall of 1867 in contrast with that of 1868, and the progress of cholera in 1868 with its progress in 1869 . . 255 General disappearance of cholera when the sources of water-supply have been replenished ... . . . . 256 Prevalence of cholera in different tracts of country and in different villages within the the same tract, in relation to the water-supply .. ... ••• » • 257 Numerous instances of this referred to . . . . . . 258 'Liability to pollution of different sources of supply... . . 259 to 261 The effect of rain-fall on the prevalence of cholera . . ... 262 to 267 The character of the impurities in water that affectjthe manifestation of cholera .. ... .. ... 268 to 272 The relation between the use of impure water and the development of cholera .. .. .. .. 273 to 277 Other conditions that predispose to cholera . . ... 278 Want of conservancy ... .. ... ... 279 Overcrowding .. ... •• ... •• 280 -Caste .. ... ... ... .. 281 Age and sex ... .. .. •• .. 282 Contagiousness of cholera ... ... ... ? 283 Period of incubation .. ... .. ... .284 Proportion of deaths to persons attacked . . ... 285 Duration of prevalence in towns and villages ... .. 286 The out-break at Jhilmillee . . . . . . 287 Conclusions to be drawn from the facts related . . . . 288 Measures of prevention ... ... ... .. 289 Fairs .. ... .... ... ... 290 Quarantine . . .. .. ... ... 291 General improvement of water-supply ... .. .. 292 Obstacles to improvement ... .. .. .. 293 Much good may be effected by simple and ordinary measures of precaution.. ~. •« ... . . 294 Special measures recommended ... ... .** 295 to 298 Epidemic of 1869 . . . . . . ... . 299 to 305 Conclusion . . ... . . . . • . 306 MAPS. ;No. I. — Map of Central Provinces. ,„ II. — Geological Map of tract of country in which the epidemic chiefly prevailed. STATEMENTS. 1868. Ho. I. — Meteorological condition prevalent during epidemic period. „ II. — Rain-fall in 1867 and 1868 with average of former years. „ 111. — Daily Register of rain -fall in Jubbulpore and Seonee, June and July. ,„ IV. — Rise and decline of epidemic. ,„ V. — Mortality among coolies employed on Northern road .„ VI. — Mortality among general population. .*, VII. — Percentage of mortality in villages attacked. 1869. .„ VIII. — Rise and decline of epidemic, with Table of atmospheric condition. ,„ IX.— Mortality in different districts. 





























REPORT ON THE CHOLERA EPIDEMIC OF 1868. 

:o: 

Introductory. 

1. A general description of the epidemic of cholera that prevailed in the districts of Seonee ; Mundla and Jubbulpore in 1868 has been given in my Annual Report for that year. r \ he chief object in this report is to show in more minute detail the manner in which the disease became diffused among the population contained within the limits of the epidemic area, and to describe the circumstances of position, soil, water-supply, and general sanitary condition of those towns and villages in which the disease prevailed,' at the same time noting the circumstances of other villages in the same localities that experienced comparative or complete immunity. To render the subject clear, however, it will be necessary to repeat the general facts regarding the outbreak and spread of the disease which have been elsewhere o-iven. 

2. Regarding the prevalence of cholera in the Central Provinces in former years, the information that exists is scanty and imperfect, but there is sufficient evidence that from 1860 to 1866 inclusive, no year passed by in which cholera did not become epidemic over a more or less extensive portion of the Province. In no locality, however, has cholera hitherto been considered endemic ; the origin of every epidemic has been attributed either to a fair or other assemblage of persons held within the Provinces, or to importation of the disease by pilgrims or travellers from other parts of the country. The fair formerly held annually in February at the Mahadeo cave in the Puchmurree hills, formed the most frequent focus of the disease within the Provinces. The cave is held in great sanctity through all the surrounding country, the stream of pilorinis is constant throughout the year, and from 100,000 to 120,000 people assembled annually on the Denwa river in the valley below the hill. Cholera broke out at this fair in 1860 and in 1865, and the most wide-spread epidemics of which there are any records followed, not a single district having escaped in either year. On the island of Unkarjee Mandata on the Nerbudda in the Nimar district fairs are held annually in February and October, and there is a constant stream of votaries at the shrine throughout the year. It is to these pilgrims and to pilgrims to a temple at Indore that the frequent occurrence of cholera along the main road from Bombay through the Kimar district to Indore and Mhow has been attributed. In 1864 cholera invaded the Provinces from the south, and it was supposed to have been imported by pilgrims returning from Punderpore in the Deccan. The epidemics that annually, from 1860 to 1866, ravaged the eastern districts were considered to owe their origin to importation of the disease by pilgrims returning from the temple of Juggernath at Pooree, and there is ground for believing that in 1865 and in 1866 the disease was carried westward from Chuteesgurh by the carts that annually convey the grain produce of that tract of country to the markets of Nagpore and Kamptee. 

3. Ro frequent and wide-spread had the visitations of this scourge become that in 1865 the attention of the Administration was earnestly turned towards measures calculated to check and mitigate its ravages. The spread of the disease over the country in 1865 was so manifestly connected with the dispersion of the pilgrims from the Mahadeo fair, that to prevent its assemblage for the future appeared to be the measure most urgently called for. Orders prohibiting the fair were accordingly issued by Sir R. Temple, and the reasons for the measure were so obvious and good that it was received by the mass of the people witji 



2 



ready acquiescence. At the same time village conservancy rules were issued, and the necessity of turning their attention to improving the sanitary condition of the towns and villages of their districts was urged upon all District officers. 

4. In the following year cholera spared the greater part of the Provinces, but it again ravaged the eastern districts, having been again apparently imported from Orissa; It was therefore resolved, in the event of the disease again threatening from that quarter, to attempt to arrest its progress by quarantine. Accordingly when towards the end of 1867 it was reported that cholera had broken out at Pooree, quarantine was established at the eastern border of the Provinces. The fact of cholera having broken out at Pooree was at the same time proclaimed through the eastern districts and efforts made to dissuade the people from pilgrimages. That the immunity from the disease that followed was entirely due to these measures cannot be confidently asserted, for there is no evidence as to the number of pilgrims that visited Pooree or th«t any infected bodies were stopped by the quarantine. We must be content with the fact that the disease did not cross the border and that the eastern districts escaped. The other Divisions were also again spared in 1867, and thus it happened that, for once in many years, every district in the Provinces experienced immunity from cholera. 

SECTION I. 

Origin of the epidemic and its spread among the gangs of labourers employed on the Northern Road. 

5. In 1868 cholera first appeared in the district of Seonee ; neither this district nor the district of Jubbulpore to which the disease quickly spread have had the reputation of being particularly liable to visitations of cholera. In the epidemic of 1865 they suffered in common with every other district in the Provinces, but for 1866 and 1867 had remained entirely free. 

6. Through the early part of 1868 there were no rumours of cholera having appeared in any of the localities from which in former years it had spread to these Provinces. Early in April a report reached the authorities at Jubbulporo that cholera was prevalent in the neighbouring territory of Rewah, but th< j Political Agent at Nagode. on being applied to for information, stated that there was no foundation for the report. The opening of the East India Railroad to Jubbulpore in 1867 had, however, exposed us to importation from the Ganges valley, and a circumstance that will be related hereafter, having afforded ground for a supposition that the disease might have been brought to the Nagpore road, where it first broke out, from Benares or Mirzapore, I addressed the Magistrates of those districts on the subject, and they were good enough to favour me with the following information. In his letter dated 9th December 1868 the Magistrate of Benares writes : — The city and district of Benares never seem to be altogether free of cholera, the natives however do not generally distinguish between diarrhoea, dysentery, and cholera, and therefore all the cases mentioned in the comparative table given below for the first half of the years 1867 and 1868 are probably not true cases of cholera. 



3 

Deaths from Cholera. b- CO O . • <O CO 00 °C rr-; - ' 2 r 1 « i £ g £ co «j 21 20 31 30 GO 169 179 171 95 228 Go 185 , 1 I 7. Tlie Magistrate of Mirzapore forwarded a copy of a report on the subject to the Secretary to Government, North Western Provinces, dated 27th 

May IS<>B, of which the following is an extract :— " The only instance where the cholera was decidedly of an epidemic character was that reported especially to the Commissioner on the 21st May, when 32 persons, of whom 14 were children, were stated to have died in one village about 12 miles north of the Sone, in one week. There have been no instances of the disease fastening on to thickly populated bazaars, and the towns of Mirzapore and Chunar are fairly free of it. As far as I can learn the disease is not more prevalent in this year than in the average of years. We had a threatening of a severe season of sickness in the latter end of February and commencement of March, but in the first week in March we got a few heavy showers of rain and hail, accompanied by lightning, and that cleared the atmosphere and drove the disease out of the district for several weeks." 

3. It would appear then from these extracts that cholera, though not considered epidemic, had been present in those districts in the early months of 1868. From Mirzapore or Benares the Nagpore road is daily reached by the mails in less than two days, but natives travelling would take a day or two 

longer. 

o 

9. Since the opening of the East Indian Railway to Jubbulpore in 180 7 the line of road between that station and the terminus of the branch of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway at Nagpore, had become apart of the main line of postal communication between the Bengal Presidency and Europe. It was therefore of the utmost importance that the road should be kept in as perfect repair as possible. Accordingly gangs of coolies had been collected and were employed in collecting metal for the purpose ot remetalling the road throughout its whole length as soon as the rains should set in. 3he whole length of the road between Nagpore and Jubbulpore is 164 miles. At Kamptee, 10 miles from Nagpore, it crosses the Kanhan river, and near its other extremity, 5 miles from Jubbulpore, it crosses the Nerbudda ; between these two rivers, the road tiaverses a hilly tract of country that forms almost the central portion of the Sautpoora range. Leaving the Nagpore plain 12 miles north of the Kanhan the road enters among the lower spurs of the range and traverses a wide tract of jungle, broken only here and there by small spaces of cultivated ground. At Korai, near the 55th mile from Nagpore, the road commences an abrupt ascent of 500 feet in a few miles, and soon after reaching the top of the ghat, emerges into the open plateau in which the station of Seonee is situated. The geological formation of this section is metamorphic, consisting of granitic and gneissic rocks ; the soil in the small valleys is a vegetable mould, mixed with a large proportion of sand ; the streams that cross the road in this section have deep rardy beds, which in the hot months absorb the water, and there is nothing visible but a dry bed of loose sand ; but by digging*, a little water is reached; and for the most part along 



4 

this section of the road water is obtainable at a depth of from 25 to 30 feet below the surface of the ground ; in some places, however, wells have to be sunk much deeper. In many localities along the southern portion of the road the people derive their water-supply from large tanks. 

Soon after reaching the top of the Korai ghat the road enters on a belt of laterite which extends to about a mile south of Seonee, where the trap formation becomes visible. In this laterite belt the water-supply is derived solely from wells, and it is found abundant, even in the hot weather of ordinary years, about 20 feet from the surface. 

10. The station of Seonee is about midway between Nagpore and Jubbulpore; it is situated in a wide open plateau at an elevation of 1,000 feet above the Nagpore plain. The soil is for the most part "black soil "or regur, and water is abundant at from 20 to 25 feet from the surface. The well water is generally soft and sweet, but in some places it is slightly brackish as in the town of Seonee itself, rrom Seonee to the Nerbudda the formation of the country traversed by the road is throughout trap, and its aspect differs greatly from that of the metamorphic formation south of the Seonee plateau : the hills in some parts rise abruptly and form well defined straight ridges with flat table tops, the surfaces of which are thickly strewn with nodular trap ; in others the ground rises with a gradual incline, expanding into extensive upland flats, covered with grass. The valleys between the hills are often of considerable width, and, containing a soil formed of a layer of rich black soil overlying a deep calcarious clay, a combination that is extremely retentive of moisture, very fertile. One of the most marked features of the trap formation results from the appearance of the rivers, instead of the dry sandy bed described as characteristics of the southern section of the road, the rivers crossed in the northern section present long stagnant reaches, separated by barriers of black basalt, some of which are several hundred yards in extent, and through the crevices and indentations of which the water trickles in divided streamlets. In this section of the road the pools of the livers form the chief sources of water-supply, the depth of the water from the surface and the nature of the rock presenting in many places almost insuperable obstacles to the formation of wells and as the streams are often several miles apart there is a want of water in many localities in the hot weather. 

1 1. The tract of country traversed by the road is sparsely populated, and the villages are too small to supply sufficient labour to carry on the work required along the road; it was therefore necessary to supplement local labour by importation from other parts. For the section south of Seonee labourers were brought from the neighbourhood of Nagpore, for the northern section coolies 

12. The number of coolies at work along the whole length of road in April was 8,394 (men and women) ; of these, 4,650, chiefly local labourers, were employed on the southern section, from the Kanhan to the Wyngunga, a distance of 90 miles, and 3,744 on the northern section, from the Wyngunga to the Nerbudda, a distance of 60 miles. Of these latter 1 ,2 70 were Purdessie coolies from Myhere and Rewah, the remainder were labourers drawn from villages near the road. These labourers, Purdessie and local, worked in gangs each under its own mate ; the gangs varied in strength from 30 to 200 persons, but in some localities several gangs were employed on the same work, and the number of persons, including women and children located on the same spot, would amount to 1,000 and upwards. A proportion of the local labourers returned to their villages at night, but the gangs were for the most part hutted in the vicinity of the tanks and streams, both for the convenience of the water-supply, and in the northern section for quarrying the basaltic metal from the river beds. Their huts 



5 

were constructed of branches of trees thatched with the loner coarse crass that 

6 vv"-i«~ o 

is abundant almost everywhere along the road: they were generally placed on high rocky ground and were not much crowded together, the several gangs of which a large party would be composed keeping in a measure separate from each other. 

13. Their hours of work were from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., with two hours rest in the middle of the day. During this rest they cooked their mid-day meal, indeed their only regular meal in the 24 hours, though portions were generally reserved for the evening. Their practice, as described to me by one of the overseers, was immediateiy on breaking off from their work to rush to the stream or other source of water-supply and drink a large quantity of water; they then B«fe to work to prepare the food, which occupied them about an hour, and for the remainder of the time of rest they slept. The staple food of the poorer classes in this tract of country consists of kodoo and kootkee, cheap kinds of millet, of which they are able to purchase a quantity sufficient to " fill their bellies " at a low rate. 1^ 11). to 2 lbs. of this made into chuppaties, a small quantity of some vegetable food (bajee) mixed with a little salt, chillies, or other condiment, constitutes the ordinary daily food of the population. The coolies employed on the road, however, receive good wages, and as both men and women, and even the older children were employed, and as, moreover, prices in the early part of the year were somewhat below the average, the coolies were able to purchase better food, and a large proportion made use of wheat instead of the cheaper grains. In fact it may be taken for granted that the coolies were well cared for and fairly treated, it being the interest of the mates that they should be so, for labour being scarce in that part of the country, the gangs are with difficulty collected, and if their condition were not in a considerable degree bettered by their employment they would at once desert to their homes. 

14. An estimate of the state of the weather at the time of the outbreak -of cholera may be formed by inspection of the accompanying abstract of meteorological observations taken at Nagpore, the nearest locality at which any complete and reliable observations had been taken. Nagpore indeed is upwards of 100 miles distant from the locality in which the outbreak of cholera occurred, and at ¦an elevation lower by some 500 feet; but, on the other hand, the locality in which cholera broke out is a valley probably the lowest between Seonee and the Nerbudda; the soil and geological formation are the same as at Nagpore ; and as regards the amount of rain, the registers at Lucknadown, the tehseel station 8 miles to the north, and at Seonee 28 miles to the south, are both, as at Nagpore, blank for the months of April and May. The abstract given, with a slight diminution of temperature on account of elevation, may therefore be considered to represent approximately the meteorological conditions prevalent over the whole tract of country. As regards barometric pressure, there are no data for comparison with previous years ; the monthly registers for the year show the gradual, decline of barometric pressure from January to June in accordance with the annual wave, and this is neither interrupted or accelerated previous to, or at tl c time of, the outbreak of cholera. 

1 5. The observations of solar radiation recorded in the table are made with a black bulb thermometer in vacuo. A black bulb freely exposed would indicate a temperature from 25° to 30° lower, and this probably would represent the effect of the sun's rays on the surface of the ground. 

The mean temperature of the month of April 1868 was I°s above that of April 1867; for the 10 days including the date of the outbreak the difference was more considerable. 



6 

10th to 20th April 1867. 186?. Diff. 

Daily mean highest temperature ? . . 102*5 105*8 3 3 Mean lowest temperature 805 73*5 7'd Mean daily temperature .. .. .. 93 1 88*0 51 

16. The hygrometer showed a mean difference between the dry and wet bulb of 25° at 10 am. and 31* at 4 p.m. for the 10 days, including the date of the outbreak. On this point there are no data for comparison with former years. 

17. The prevailing winds for the 10 days were W, SW, and NW., with a mean velocity of 98 miles in the 24 hours. At this time of the year the wind blows with the greatest velocity between the hours of 10 and 4 ; the nights are usually calm or the wind is very light. 

18. The rain-fall registered at the principal stations in the different months in the year and the average of former years within the epidemic area is shown in a separate Statement. The latest fall registered at Seonee and Lucknadown, distant respectively 27 and 9 miles from Gunneshgunj, the locality in which cholera first broke out, occurred between the 23rd and 25th March, when rather more than an inch fell at both places ; from this time to the end of May there was an almost total absence of rain over the districts, of Seonee, Mundla, and Jubbulpore above the ghats. 

19. The general health of the labourers prior to the outbreak of cholera is reported to have been good. Unfortunately the systematic registration of deaths in the Seonee district is confined to the S udder Tebseelee, and this does, not include the locality where the first outbreak of epidemic cholera occurred. In the monthly returns from this tehseelee, however, which contains 574 villages, with a population of 155,000, 78 deaths from cholera were registered in the 9 months preceding April 18.68. They were reported as follows: — 

1867. 3 deaths from 3 villages. 

July 

August ? 15 September „ 16 November ? 22. December „ 5 January n 2 February ? 2 

7) )) *V }> 



Q » » " J^ 

March „ 5 

20 Again in the returns from the Burgee Police circle, in the Jubbulpore district, but still in the trap formation south of the Nerbudda and traversed by the road, 6 deaths from cholera are returned in January and 6 in February. In these instances the deaths happened in villages on the road, and one is reported from Hoolkee, where the second outbreak among the coolies subsequently occurred. 

All these cases were reported by the village Kotwals to the Police. That all or any of them were truly cases of cholera cannot be affirmed with certainty ; it is, however, necessary that their occurrence should be taken into account when the origin of the epidemic is under consideration. It is, moreover, worthy of note that out of 12 Police circles in the Jubbulpore district, many of them of much wider extent, deaths from cholera appear in the returns from the circle of Burgee only, within which the second outbreak of cholera occurred, and the geological formation of which is the same as that of the locality where the disease first assumed an epidemic form. 

2J, The first outbreak of cholera occurred in a body of Purdessee coolies in the Gunneshgunj valley, 57 miles from Jubbulpore and 28 from Seonee. For 



7 

a description of this locality and for the details of the outbreaks in the several gangs employed on the northern section of the road, 1 am indebted to a very clear report furnished by Mr. O'Donnell, the Executive Engineer in charge. 

22. The Gunneshgunj valley lies between two trap ridges. Where it is traversed by the road it is about 3 miles wide: the soil over the greater part of its extent is blacksoil overlying a deep bed of clay containing much kunkur; but in some parts, particularly along the bank of the Mooteyah nullah, the basaltic rock crops up to the surface. Its main drainage chy.nnel is the Bijna nuddee, which crosses from west to east not far from the ridge that bounds the valley on the north. The Mooteyah nullah crosses the road£ mile beyond the 57th milestone, and taking a south-easterly course, joins the Bijna river about f- mile below the bridge by which the road crosses that river. About midway in its course through the valley the Mootoj^ah is joined by the Kooiah nullah. Of these nullahs the Bijna is by far the largest; even in this, however, the stream in the hot weather is small, but there are pools of considerable depth. The Mooteyah nullah is much smaller, the stream trickling over barriers of black basaltic rock into pools of from 2to 4 feet deep. The Kooiah nullah in the hot weather is dry. The beds of these nullahs all cut through the clay which forms the bottom of the valley, and then beds are formed of basaltic rock lying between steep clay banks, varying in depth from 10 to 30 or 40 feet. By means of these rivers the subsoil of the area between them is perfectly drained. Near the bank of the Mooteyah the rock comes to the surface or has only a thin layer of clay over it; but GOO yards from the Mooteyah, and nearer the Bijna, a well was being sunk by the Department Public Works when I inspected the locality in November. After sinking 33 feet through the clay, water was reached lying on the rock ; through the upper (i or 8 feet of the clay, the moisture had penetrated from the surface, but below this, until within a little distance from the rock, the clay was comparatively dry. 

23. In this valley 824 coolies were distributed in gangs under their several mates, as follows :—: — 

On the north bank of the Bijna, near 55th milestone, 233 Purdesee coolies in 5 gangs and 55 local coolies in 2 gangs. 

On the north bank of the Mooteyah, near 57th milestone, 411 Purdesee coolies in 6 gangs and 125 local laboui*ers. 

24. Cholera first appeared in the gangs of Purdesee coolies on the bank of the Mooteyah nullah. The following account of them is given by Mr. O'Docnell, the Executive Engineer of the northern section of the road :—": — " Mate Bindrabun's gang of 200 coolies came from Jokhye. on the Mirzapore road, in January, and commenced breaking basalt in the bed of the Mooteyah. On the 23rd March Koonj Lall Darogah arrived from Myhere with 289 coolies, and on the 25th another gang of 42 joined, making in all 33] ; 120 of these he sent on to Chupparah and 211 he retained in the Gunneshgunj valley, hutting them on the bank of Mooteyah near Bindrabun. The greater number of these coolies had been employed for months previously on the Mirzapore road near Jokhye and Anunpatun quarrying metal. They all arrived in the Gunneshgunj valley in excellent health, and with Bindrabun's gang kept in health. They went nowhere but to market in the Gunneshgunj village. There were no additions to their number subsequent to the 25th March." 

25. *' f The 125 local labourers entered in the Statement with the above gangs were not hutted with them ; they used to go home to their villages in the evening and return to work in the morning. They were employed in digging kunkur; ; some near Gunneshgunj, and some near Ihe village of Goonwarra, a mile and a 



8 

quarter above the Bijna bridge. Purdessee gangs." 

They did not necessarily mix with the 

26. "The part of the bank of the Mo'oteyah nullah on which the 411 Purdessee coolies were hutted is distant about 400 yards from the road; it is formed of a ridge of basalt covered with a thin layer of decomposed trap, the surface being strewn with pieces of greenstone and quartz. This rocky ridge rises 10 or 15 feet above the plain, it crops up rather abruptly, and is the most elevated site in the valley, bordering the ridge on its side towards the load. The soil, composed of blacksoil overlying clay, is deep and cultivated, but where it is continuous with the ridge and forms the bank of the nullah the clay contains a larger proportion of kunkur and is dry and uncultivated, and only covered with the coarse grass that forms the chief vegetation of the dry wastes of this tract of country. Between the ridge and the stream is a sheet of rock 60 yards wide, formed of hard basalt containing much crystalline quartz. It was in this rock that the coolies were employed quarrying metal. The opposite bank is formed of clay rising abruptly about 20 feet from the stream. The site is totally without shade, there not being a tree of any kind anywhere near.*' 

27. "Both above and below the sheet of basalt there were pools of water from 2 to 4 feet deep. The stream between running close under the clay bank was very small, the upper pool had been slightly deepened by a small dam made by the coolits. These pools formed the sole w T ater-supply of the gangs. The mates whom I examined on the spot acknowledged that the bed of the river was much defile I, the coolies resorting to it, or to the waste ground on the bank, for the purposes of nature, and washing their bodies in the stream; they also habitually bathed in the same pools from which they drew their drinking water." Besides these sources of defilement, Mr. O'Donnell in his report states; "that "Koonie Darogah, when returning on the evening of the 1 7th from going to the burial of the coolies, crossed the Mooteyah and observed the water in one of the pools of a reddish tinge, and a few small dead fish were floating in it and others were lying rotting on the margin. On enquiry from the coolies he learnt that three or four days previously some fishermen were discovered catching fish in this pool with a net, and the coolies forced them away, not wishing the water to be puddled. On the 14th, or thereabouts, it appears the fishermen returned during the night and threw into the pool a quantity of bark of the Thinsa, a jungle tree which had the effect of destroying the fish in a few hours and discolouring the water. All the larger fish the fishermen subsequently took away, leaving the smaller ones as Koonie found them. It is possible the coolies may have drank of the contaminated water of this pool. J could not with certainty ascertain this." 

On the site above described the gangs of coolies were thus distributed. Bindrabun's gang of 200 with two smaller gangs of 30 and 50 occupied the rocky ridge. A gang of 42 under mate Bhugwan was hutted on the cultivated black soil within a few feet of the ridge, and two other gangs of 65 and 24 under mates Huthnee and Bola were pitched on the waste ground nearer the bank of the stream. These gangs were the nearest to the road. The gangs on the ridge would probably draw water from the pool below the sheet of basalt, the gangs on the lower ground from the upper pool. 

28. The outbreak of cholera is thus described by Mr. O'Donnell: — 

"On the 16th April the first case of cholera occurred. It was that of a woman of Bhugwan's gang, aged about 20; who, while taking the mid-day rest of two hours from 12 to 2, was struck down by the disease about 1 o'clock. Her husband was with her. She was a remarkably strong and healthy young woman. 

"The second case was that of a strong young man, aged about 25; he was seized about midnight of the 16th and was dead before morning dawned. During 



9 

the 17th five more were attacked and two died by evening. In the evening of the 17th the gang was moved by Khoonie Darogah a quarter of a mile up the Mooteyah nullah, taking with them their three sick coolies and leaving their huts behind. On the morning of the 18th he again moved them with the three sick coolies up about 300 yards near to the Mooteyah nullah bridge. On the 19th he sent a note to the Tehseeldar of Lucknadown on the 48th mile, informing him of the sickness, and asking his assistance. The same day the Tehseeldar promptly sent a supply of medicines, and on the morning of the 20th a Native Doctor arrived, sent over by the Tehseeldar. On the 20th, Koonie moved the party with the three sick coolies to the 63rd mile, about half a mile fromGogree. The three sick coolies eventually recovered, and no fresh case or death occurred in the gang from the moment they quitted their huts on the evening of the 17th, aud the gang has remained healthy ever since. Of this gang seven were attacked, four died, and :hree recovered. They hutted themselves on the low blacksoil ground near the ,C3rd milestone and dug cutcha wells, the water of which they used. 

Ruthnee and Bola's gangs, 89 strong, were attacked on the 18th. They went "to their work of breaking basalt as usual in the bed of the Mooteyah nullah. About 9 o'clock a. m. a coolie was attacked, soon after two more, and before evening the three were dead. In the evening they moved half a mile up the Rainch nullah, deserting their huts. During the night of the 18th and day of the 19th twelve more were struck down. In the evening of the 19th they were marched with their twelve sick coolies towards Chupparah, where they arrived in the morning of the 20th, and squatted in a tope of mango trees opposite the 64th milestone, about one mile from the village of Chupparah and one-fourth mile from the road. On the 25th they proceeded and joined Bhugwan'sgang, near the 63rd mile, where they hutted themselves. During the night march of Ruthnee and Bola's gangs they lost eight of the twelve sick coolies. The four which survived that night recovered. From the moment they quitted their camp on the evening of the 19th they had no fresh case. Of these two gangs fifteen persons were attacked, eleven died, and four recovered. The gangs under Bindrabun, aggregating 280 men, remained in their original position on the banks of the Mooteyah. About noon on the 21st the disease appeared among them, and from that date up to the 25th they had twelve cases, of which nine died. On the 25th they deserted their camps and marched about half a mile. On the 29th they were again moved; Bangraj and Kampta to dig kunkur at Goonwarra, a village about 1^ mile west of Bijna bridge and their first camp; Bindrabun to quarry and break limestone at Goonar, one mile east of the 61st mile. From the 25th April, the day they moved away, they had no new cases, and have remained in health ever since. The 125 villagers working under Koonie at Gunneshgunj deserted the work on the first outbreak 

29. Cholera did not break out in the village of Gunneshgunj until some days later. Neither the exact date of the outbreak or the number of villages that suffered is known, — in the Police report the deaths from the villages being mixed up with those from the gangs in the valley. The villagers draw their water from 

30. I will now continue to quote Mr. O'Donnell's account of the coolies between Gunneshgunj and Nerbudda, and afterwards describe the spread of cholera in the gfc.ngs along the road south of Gunneshgunj : — 

" Choonabuttee — 5 1 st mile. There was a gang of 75 village coolies employed here on the side of the road breaking limestone. On the 4th May one man was attacked, and the same day the whole gang dispersed, taking away the sick man. On the 20th May 30 men returned, after which others dropped in. In all 60 have returned to the work." 



10 

"These coolies drank water from a jeerah sunk in the border of a pool by the roadside." 

" Lucknadown — 48th mile. There were 70 village coolies working, here. They were dispersed by the Tehseeldar on the 20th April; they had no cholera; 22 returned on 20th June and a few more since ; they now number 40." 

" Poorwa — 44th mile. Two gangs of 96 Purdesee coolies- employed here within 200 yards of road breaking basalt. One man was attacked on the 1 2th May and died the same day in about five hours. The following day two men fell sick and recovered. No more sickness. They were moved to another locality about a mile off on the 13th. They drank the water from temporary jeerahs in the bed of a null an. 

"Shere — 42nd mile. There were 80 village coolies employed here breaking limestone about a mile west of the road. They dispersed on the 22nd April by order of the Tehseeldar. On the 24th June 20 men returned, and by Ist July the number at work had risen to 100." 

"Goorwala — 39th mile. At this place 60 Purdesee coolies and 70 village coolies were hutted, and employed breaking stone about 75 yards west of the road. 60 village coolies dispersed to their houses on the Ist May, the remaining 70 remained on the ground and kept through the season in excellent health. Not a case occurred among them. They were hutted on the blacksoil overlying the basalt, which they were quarrying and breaking. They drank the water of a cutcha well which they dug in low ground about f mile off. No trees near their huts except one large mohwa. They used to go occasionally to Doornah to market and to no other place." 

" Burbuttee nullah — 33rd mile. There was one gang of 30 Purdeseesand one of 65 village coolies. These 65 dispersed to their houses in the neighbourhood on the 28th April. Of the 30 Purdesees, 2 fell sick on the 15th May,. 1 died, and the other recovered. They used to drink the water of the Burbuttee null an. 

31. Hoolkee valley. The Hoolkee valley is very like the Gunneshgunj valley, but less extensive ; it is also less fertile, the calcarious clay being only here and there thickly covered with blacksoil; it is drained by the Teryah nullah which, entering the valley between the hills at its south-western extremity, courses though it in a north-easterly direction, joins the Themur river a little below the village of Kuladehee ; it flows through steep clay banks, and has a rocky basaltic bottom. In the hot weather the water is contained in long stagnant pools, with a very small stream trickling over the basaltic rock between these. It differs, however, from Mooteyah, it having its bank shaded with trees. The gangs in this valley were chiefly employed in digging kunkur which is abundant in the clay of which the bottom of the valley is formed ; but the gang first attacked was employed in quarrying metal from the basaltic bed of the nullah. The nullah is the only source of water-supply for the coolies and the village of Kuladehea. 

Mr O'Donnell states; — " In this valley there were in all 550 coolies at work, 275 Purdesess and 275 village coolies." 

"23rd mile. — Cowree with 150 villao-e coolies was breaking ba«alt. Before the disease appeared in his gangs he dispersed them on the 2nd May. None have since returned." 

" 17th and 18th mile. — Khuneyasing with 180 village coolies, and Beharee with 45 Purdesees, were employed digging kunkur near the road. The ISO 



11 

village coolies dispersed to their houses in the adjoining villages, and the 45 Purdesees remained in their huts, situated on the side of the road on high ground, soil yellow, clay containing kunkur, among the ravines of the Gujna nuddee, the water of which they drank. They remained in health throughout the crisis and continued at their work of digging kunkur." 

"In the 15th and 16th mile there were 450 village coolies employed breaking stone and digging kunkur. They lived at Burgee, and on the 10th May dispersed. On the 15th June they began to return, and up to the present 200 have returned and are at work." 

"In the 13th and 14th mile 160 village coolies were employed breaking stone in the hills near the road. On the 6th May all deserted the work except 25 coolies of Ramjee's gang, who remained at work and had no sickness whatever. They had their huts in village Kumureeya, 1 J mile from the 13th milestone. They drank the water of a cutch a well (jeerah) sunk in the bed of the dry nullah which runs by the village." 

"In the 9th and 10th mile there were 120 village coolies employed, 90 at digging kunkur and 30 at breaking stone. They lived in their villages and used to come to work in the morning and return to their work in the 

evening". 

o 

" 6th mile — Goarheeghat Works, Nerbudda. Lieutenant Jackson, Assistant Engineer, was in charge of these works, and had about 350 people at work. He reports that on the 15th May the first case appeared; from that date up to the 23rd May, the day the gangs all deserted the works ; 25 cases occurred, of which 18 died." 

"On the 2nd June a fresh party of 200 was assembled again at the ghat, and by the 7th it was increased to 400. They have worked from that time up to the present and been quite free from sickness. They have been hutted on high blacksoil ground among ravines in the Jubbulpore side of the river. Lieutenant Jackson's gangs were on the opposite side," 

32. We now go back to the gangs south of Gunneshgunj. The northern section of the road extends only as far as the north bank of the Wyngunga at Chupparah, 9 miles from Gunneshgunj. In the vicinity of Chupparah 120 Purdesee coolies and 138 village coolies were under Koonie Lall Darogah. The following is the account of them given by Mr. O'Donnell :—: — 

" Sahowlee mate with 76 Purdesee coolies, and Munrukhan with 55 local coolies, and Chundersing with 43 local coolies, were employed digging kunkur. The two first were hutted together on the banks of a small nullah, a feeder of the Wyngunga, and about 200 yards from the village of Gharaghat on the banks of the Bangunga. The gangs and the people of Gharaghat drank the water of temporary cutcha wells dug in the bed of the feeder. Chundersing and his gang were hutted on the banks of the Bangunga about a mile below Garaghat and half a mile from the village of Mahumbara. They drank the water of the 

"Mujee with 44 Purdesee and Nund Lall with 40 villagers were employed breaking stone near the Chupparah bridge. Mujee and his men were hutted near the bridge between the dak bungalow and the river Wyngunga. Nund Lall and his men lived in Chupparah." 

" Koonie states that a marriage procession arrived at Garaghat on 18th May from Chundeyree with a case in camp. On the 19th the disease broke out 



12 

in the village of Garaghat, and among the coolies of Sahowlee's gangs three men sickened on the 19th and died the same day. On the 20th and 21st eight more died. On the 21st he deserted the ground and squatted about ]J mile from Chupparah and a mile from the road. From the 21st to the 26th May four more died, when the disease stopped. In all, Sahowlee had nineteen cases, of which four recovered and fifteen died." 

" Munrakhan's gang was attacked on the 21st, from which date up to 27th he lost nine men, when his gang dispersed; no more is known of them." 

" Chundersing's gang at Mahumbara had no case whatever ; they kept excellent health and remained at their work. They were hutted on yellowish clay soil without the shelter of trees." 

"The cholera broke out in the village of Ohupparah on the 25th May, on which date Nund Lall and his gang stopped work, and Mowjee moved from the vicinity of the dak bungalow to the opposite bank, half a mile downstream and hutted on the banks of a small nullah, a feeder of the Wyngunga. His gang dug temporary wells, called jeerahs (a spring), and drank the water obtained in them. His gang of 44 persons kept in perfect health and had not a single case. They were hutted on blacksoil without tree shelter." 

"This completes theaccount of all the coolies employed between Chupparah (65th mile) and Gunneshgunj (55th mile)." 

33. At Chupparah, on the south side of the Wyngunga, the southern section of the road commences. Owing in some measure to the coolies on this section being all local labourers, who dispersed immediately that cholera approached them, the information regarding the diffusion of the disease among them is very incomplete, and little more can be given than is shown in the tabular Statement. 

34. In this section of the road cholera first broke out in a party of 900 coolies employed near the village of Rookeir, 45 miles south of Gunneshgunj, and 17 from Seonee. These coolies were mostly hutted with their families close to a large pool by the side of the road, but some had their huts in the village. There is a well in the village, but all the coolies used the water of the tank near which they worked. The water of this pool is said to have been very foul at the time. The first death from cholera occurred on the morning of the 15th May, a second in the evening of the same day, and five on the following day ; 400 coolies at once deserted. The disease continued among those that remained for 12 days, and in all 30 are reported to have died. Subsequently, on making enquiries from the Bunneah in the village who supplied the coolies with food, and from others, I ascertained that the disease was confined entirely to the coolies and their families ; the people resident in the village who were not employed on the road and who used water from the village well escaped entirely. The well is open, lined with masonry, having 6 or 8 feet of water in the hot weather at a level of 16 feet from the surface. 

Rookeir is situated on the top of the Korai ghat closely surrounded on all sides by dense jungle. The rock is gneissic, covered with a scanty vegetable mould. 

35. From Rookeir the disease soon spread to Korai at the bottom of the ghat, four miles distant, where a party of 250 coolies were hutted near a large tank from which they drew their water-supply. 

36. Regarding the outbreaks in the gangs between Korai and Kamptee there are no details beyond what is given in the tabular Statement, 



13 

37. Northward 4 and 5 miles from Rool<eir towards Seonee 250 coolies hutted on laterite, and drawing water solely from deep wells, escaped entirely. 

38. At Misciab, 5 miles north of Seonee, 700 coolies were hutted oft the^ bank of a nullah, the water of which they drank. Cholera broke out on the 20tlv May, and 1 0 deaths occurred in a day or two, the coolies then dispersed. In the village of Boorha, a short distance off the road at this point, where there is a good well, no case of cholera occurred. The coolies were subsequently collected again near this village and cholera did not again attack them. 

39. Near the village of Soonadongur £00 coolies were collected building a bridge over a nullah. Cholera broke out among them on the 16th May, when they dispersed. The village is built on the north side of a trap hill sloping! toward^ the nullah, the water of which was used b}* villagers as well as coolies; there being no well in the villas e. Out of a population of 5&9^ the. Patel, Kotwal, and several inhabitants collected together reckoned up in my presence upwards of forty deaths. 

40. At Raheewarra 260 coolies were hutted near a surface well, the water in which was level with the surface of the ground sloping towards it on all sides, Cholera broke out on the 6th June and six deaths occurred in as many days, The village is situated on high ground, but the villagers fetch water from the surface well below; eight deaths occurred among them out of a population w \Qf, 

41. At Bundole 200 coolies were employed, and according to the returns no cholera occurred among them. I was unable to ascertain where these coolies were located. There is a tank near the road at the bottom of the hill and there i& a well a little beyond the village, the villagers resort to both sources of water-supply. Eight deaths occurred in the village out of a population of 250. 

42. At Narraingunj 500 coolies were hutted near the Mail chowkey, where tfrere is a wejl. Only one case of cholera occurred among them. 

43, At Sadik Seonee there was a body of 700 coolies collected, building abridge over a nullah ; according to the returns only three deaths occurred, but the European overseer whom I found there informed me that, though cholera was not severe, there were more than three deaths. The coolies were located on deep blacksoil on the bank of the nullah, they drank water from the nullah and from wells in the village, of which there are several. From the village only five deaths are returned out of a population of 532, but the Kotwal reckoned up more ; the villagers use well water for drinking, but resort to the nullah for washing. The first case in this village was that of the village mate, who was taken ill on the 27th May wfyen returning from Seonee ; the next cases were members of this man's family. The first case among the coolies occurred on the Ist June. 

This completes the account of the coolies employed on the southern tftction of the road* 

44. Subsequently the gangs of local labourers that had dispersed were again collected on both sections of the road; they were, however^ placed under strict conservancy arrangements and, wherever practicable, wells were sunk to provide them with pure drinking water. After this arrangement had been effected they remained free from cholera, though the prevalence of the disease flrmoftg the surrounding population did not reach it» height till the middle of iJulv 



14 

45. I have now given all the information available regarding the origin and spread of the cholera epidemic among the coolies employed on the Northern road; but before leaving this section of the report it will be convenient to review the circumstances connected with the origin of the epidemic and its subsequent appearance in gangs at a distance. 

46. First, then, with regard to the origin of the first outbreak in the (jrunneshgunj valley, there is no evidence of the importation of the disease from elsewhere. The gangs that arrived latest in the locality had joined the party on the Moteeyah nullah on the 25th March, three weeks before the outbreak. As far as can be ascertained, cholera had not been prevalent in the tract of country from which they were drawn, moreover they had been employed in gangs and under supervision for some months previously, they had their familieswith them, and, as far as can be known, no one had joined the party from ekewhere since the 25th March. 

47. On the other hand, in favour of a supposition, that infection may have been communicated from without, are the facts that the party was located within 300 yards of a road forming a line of communication between the termini of two railroads, and that the individuals first attacked belonged to the gang hutted nearest to the road, — so that although cholera is known not to have been prevalent within 200 miles of the locality, yet, considering the rapid means of communication afforded by the railway and our imperfect knowledge of the means by which epidemic diseases are diffused, it cannot be said that it is impossible that the choleraic influence may not have been brought from a greater distance. It must, however, be borne in mind that between the locality of the outbreak and the nearest Railway terminus 57 miles of road intervened, along which w r ere numerous encampments of coolies and several bazaars and villages which subsequently proved to be susceptible of the choleraic influence. To support an opinion that the origin of the disease was local, we have the want of evidence of importation and the fact that in the early part of the year prior to the epidemic outbreak deaths reported by the Police to be the result of cholera had been rather freq lent in the villages of that tract of country. 

48. Whether local in its origin, or imported from elsewhere, it is of great importance that the conditions, atmospheric, local and personal, under which the disease first appeared should be understood, and 1 have endeavoured to describe them fully and accurately, but it may be as well that 1 should here shortly summarize what have been above given in detail. 

The hot weather had fairly set in,--the temperature of the air in the shade ranged from 80° in the early morning to 106° in the afternoon, — the power of the sun's rays to Avhich these people were fully exposed working on black rock rose daily to about 130°; — it was the driest time of the year, — hot winds were blowing, — the last fall of rain had occurred three weeks previously, and, if we may judge by observations taken at Nagpore, the hygrometer showed a main difference of 34- decrees between the wet and dry bulb at 4 p. m.; — the movement of the air through the day had a velocity of 7 or 8 miles per hour, the nights were more still, the sky during the nights and mornings was clear, and clouds frequently gathered in the afternoon. 

49. The locality is not considered unhealthy, the valley is wide and open; from the nature of the soil and substrata the range of temperature would probably be high, and it is almost entirely without trees. Two streams intersect the valley, but with beds formed of non-porous rock and confined within high banks; they "add but little to its moisture, in fact by their means the area between them is perfectly drained and may be said to be without sub soil water. 



15 

The actual site on which the coolies were hutted was hi^h and for the most part bare rock. The water in the streams was very low, the pools being almost stagnant, it was clear and free of weeds, but there can be no doubt that it was habitually fouled by excremental matters. The personal condition of the coolies was probably not very different from that of the village population, they were more exposed to the heat of the sun and had harder work, but they were better fed, and they had been in good health up to the date of the outbreak. 

50. In the account given of the appearance of the disease subsequently in other gangs there are many points worthy of remark, but first of all I would call attention to the fact that although the gangs that were first attacked carried their sick with them where they moved and many of them died by the way, yet id no instance <lid a single case occur after a gang had moved from the ground 24 hours, and, moreover, although nearly the whole body eventually moved southward towards Chupparah, yet more than three weeks elapsed before any outbreak occurred in that neighbourhood. South of Gunneshgunj cholera first appeared on the 15th May in the gang at Rookeir 45 miles distant. 

5.1. Neither does it appear that the disease was communicated from the party on the Mooteyah nullah to the gangs about one and a half mile distant on the northern bank of the Bijna. The Mooteyah was entirely deserted on the 25th April and the gangs on the Bijna remained in health till sth May. In the meantime the disease appeared in a body of local labourers living in the village of Kuladehee in the Lloolkee valley, 30 miles north of Gunneshgunj. It was at first reported that the disease had been imported into this locality by a villager, one of those that deserted from the Mooteyah nullah, who had joined the gang at Kuladehee, but 1 could discover no foundation for this report; in the first place there is no evidence that these coolies had become infected, they were not working with the Purdes'ees, they returned to their villages every night, and cholera did not appear in any of the villages in that neighbourhood for weeks afterwards. The mates whom 1 examined asserted that no one from elsewhere had joined the gangs in the Hoolkee valley about that time, and that Gunnesh mate of the Kuladehee gang, who died on the hank of Terya nullah on the 29th April, was the first person attacked. Their evidence on this point was confirmed by the Kotwal and other inhabitants of Kuladehee and by the Head Constable at the Hoolkee Police outpost to whom all deaths were reported. The choleraic influence, however, was apparently present at Kuladehee a day or two earlier, for two young women of the 1 >heemur caste that left Kuladehee on the morning of the 26th to go to Mohogaon, a village near Lucknadowu 24 miles distant, were seized with cholera by the way. On arriving at their destination they sent to the dispensary at Lucknadown for medicine, and both recovered. 

52. In connection with the outbreak in the Hoolkee valley 1 will now relate a circumstance that occurred at the village of Sookrie, 4 miles distant. It was first reported to Dr. Rice, the Civil Surgeon of Jubbulpore, and I afterwards gathered the particulars of the same story at the village. On the 20th April a Brahmin with his wife and daughter, a girl 15 years of age, returning to Nagpore from Benares, where he had been on pilgrimage, arrived at Sookrie in a gharry arid halted on the encamping ground; he stated that he had left Mirzapore two days previously and had travelled to Jubbulpore by rail, that his daughter had been attacked that morning when crossing the Nerbudda, he was anxious to obtain medicine for his daughter and finding there was none to be had at Sookrie he went on. Nothing could be traced of the party afterwards, they were at Sookrie about an hour. Before they left a Gond woman belonging to the village returned from the jungle with some grass, some of which she sold to the Brahmin to place in the bottom of the gharry. Shortly after the party left, the Gond woman was seized with purging and vomiting and died the next day; 



16 

tier husband said she had drank foul, water in the jungle. No other cases occurred ia the village at this- time. A fortnight afterwards a mehter's boy was. attacked and died, and two other cases followed, Sookrie is situated on black eoAt'Ofl soil, and. a good well on the encamping ground forms, the sole wate^^upply. The circumstance above narrated is the only evidence of in>por.tation of choleraic* influence into the locality, and it is, no dmibi very inconclusive,, even as regards the outbreak in the Hoolkee valley, and it has no relation to the earlier outbreak in the Gunneshgunj valley. Still the fact of the two first outbreaks, which must I think be regarded as independent of each other, having occurred in parties, located in the neighbourhood of a road along which there was a constant stream of passengers and traffic from a part of the country in which cholera was present, strongly favour presumption that the choleraic influence may have been imported,, and the incident narrated above indicates means by which the iinportatiiou may have been effected.. 

SECTION If. 

Spread of the Disease among the General Population. 

53v I now proceed to. stfate the extent of the area over which the epidemic spread, and to give a general description of the physical configurations a<nd geological formation of that portion of the epidemic area in which the disease prevailed with the greatest intensity. I will then describe more minutely the circumstances of position,, soil, water-supply, and general sanitary conditioa of sevral towns and villages in different localities which suffered severely, and also the. same oircumstances as they existed in other villages, in, the same localities which,., experienced comparative or complete immunity. 

54. Two maps accompany the report, — one of the Central Provinces, in TOhich the extent of the area over which the epidemic spread is shown, — the other on as large scale showing the position of the several towns and villages attacked within that portion of the epidemic area over which th;e disease prevailed witl^ the greatest intensity, 

The following Tables are also given :—: — 

Table I. (which has been already referred to), — Showing the meteorological conditions at Nagpore during the prevalence of the epidemic. 

Table H.-^-Showing the rahvfall registered in the several districts of" the Provinces in the years 1867 and 1868 with the average of former years. 

Table 111.-— Daily register of rain in tfre districts of Seonee and Jubbulpore. 

Table- IV.— Showing the progress and decline of the epidemic in different piwts of th,«- same area in wljich the number of towns and villages attacked and the <}\*aniity of rain registered in periods of 10 days axe tabulated together. 

Tixble V- — Showing: mortality among the several gangs of (?oojie«< 





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Table VI. — Showing the number of villages attacked and the mortality in the several sub-divisions of the epidemic area. 

Table VII. — Showing rates of mortality in relation to population of towns and villages. 

55. The statistics of the mortality in the several districts, and the dates on which the different towns and villages were attacked, are derived from the weekly reports furnished by the Police ; these cannot be relied on as strictly accurate, and their degree of accuracy varies in different circles. Probably in all districts the number of villages that suffered from the disease, and the amount of mortality it occasioned, was somewhat greater than appears in the returns. The dates also on Avhich the first cases occurred in each village are probably in many instances incorrect. Efforts, however, have been made to render the returns as complete as possible ; and in this work much assistance has been afforded by the several District officers. The statistics of the Seonee district, supplied by Colonel Dennys, have been verified as far as possible, and have been most carefully tabulated. The reports of the Mundlah district were also verified at a large proportion of the villages by Captain Ward, 

56. As soon after the epidemic as weather j)ermitted I went into camp, and in the months of November, December and January inspected a large number of villages in the districts of Seonee, Mundlah, Jubbulpore and Nursingpore. Although my enquiries were chiefly directed to the nature of the soil, the watersupply, and general sanitary condition of the villages in which the disease prevailed, I at the same time gathered from the people themselves the particulars of the first appearance of cholera and the mortality it occasioned among them. On these points 1 almost always found the people willing to communicate information, and I believe the accounts they gave me are on the whole reliable. When I entered a village a considerable number of the population would collect, and from the Malgoozar, the Kotwal, and the relatives of those who died, I was generally able to gather all the details that I required. In many villages the calamity had reached such terrible proportions, that the circumstances attending it would not be readily forgotten by the inhabitants, and they had no motive for, wilfully misstating facts. Indeed the Gonds, among whom the disease prevailed with the greatest intensity, are considered by those who know them best a singularly truthful race. 

57. At first the disease showed but little disposition to spread beyond the coolies employed on the road ; from its first appearance on the 16th April to the middle of May only four villages near the road had been attacked. On the 15th and 16th May it broke out almost simultaneously in the towns of Jubbulpore, Lucknadow T n, and Seonee, and in one or two villages; but even after this it remained confined almost to the vicinity of the road till the end of the month. In the first week of June, however, it extended itself more rapidly ; by the 4th it had reached Moorwarra in the north of Jubbulpore, north of which place it did not afterwards spread. On the Ist of June the first case occurred in Mundlah ; on the same date it reached Nagpore, and from hence it was soon conveyed to Ellichpore in Berar. On the 1 4th June a case occurred at Chindwara in the Nursingpore district, and a few days later the disease appeared in the tow T n of Gadurwara, beyond which it did not extend westward ; but though the limits beyond which the disease did not afterwards spread were thus reached early in June, Table IV. shows that it was not until the middle of July that the disease reached its maximum of prevalence within the epidemic area. 

58. It will be observed in Table VI. that the greatest mortality occurred in the districts of Seonee, Mundlah, and Jubbulpore ; and it was in those districts, 



18 

and a portion of Nursingpore, that my enquiries were chiefly prosecuted. The area of the districts over which the epidemic spread contains upwards of 10,000 square miles, and the different sub-divisions vary greatly in point of physical configuration, geological formation, soil, and water-supply. 

59. In Kuttunghee, thesub-montane sub-division of the Seonee district, the geological formation is wholly metamorphic. The appearance of the country is described by Captain Thompson in his Survey report as " a bright looking country, almost all of it divided into irrigation compartments, with an almost park like appearance ; and there is a general appearance of luxuriance of growth not only in the forests, which are in parts very extensive, but in every patch of jungle, which is very remarkable after the stunted growth of the trap. There is everywhere evidence of a thriving population. The village sites are generally situated on rising ground, embosomed in trees, with one or more fine tanks about them ; and the houses are large and well built, properly raised, and carefully fenced in with tall bamboo fences, having a small garden plot with a well behind or inside the fence. Altogether there is an air of comfort and plenty, combined with care and system, which indicate thriving people very much higher in the scale of civilisation than in the north of the district." 

The soil in the "sub-division" is a clay soil, containing a large admixture of sand, the proportion of which varies greatly in different parts. The cultivation is chiefly rice. The water for domestic purposes is drawn from wells, of which there are several in almost every village, water being abundant at a moderate depth below the surface. The beds of the streams are sandy, and in the hot weather the water is absorbed in the sand. It will be observed that the proportionate mortality from cholera in this tract of country was small, compared with the otjiiei sud-qi vision. 

60. The Hoozoor Tehseelee of the Seonee district lies above the ghats, and has an elevation varying from 1,700 to 2,000 feet above the sea ; the hills to the south are metamorphic, but nortward the trap formation prevails, while laterite occurs in several localities. Though crossed by a wide belt of jungle it comprises several tracts of open country. It contains the Seonee or summit plateau level, and is almost bare of trees and covered with a rich blacksoil ; the valley of the Hirun river, a deep but level valley with a sandy soil ; the valley of the Agar river, an undulating blacksoil country, producing rich crops of grain, but almost treeless. 

61. Northward from Seonee the trap formation extends over a wide extent of country, includino- the Lucknadown Tehseel of the Seonee district : a large portion of Mundlah district ; and the circles of Burgee, Burrailla and 

62. Immediately around Jubbulpore a great variety of rock, trap, sandstone, granite, and metamorphic approach each other ; and the soil consists 

63. Stretching west and northwards from the town of Jubbulpore is a wide tract of alluvial soil lying between the Nerbudda and the Hirun, and comprising the circles (Table IV.) of Jubbulpore, Shaipoora, Patun, Kuttungee and Sehora, To the north of Sehora the metamorphic formation again prevails. In the hilly country of the Koombhee pergunnah the soil is sandy and poor ; while north and north-west of Sleemanabad the metamorphic rock is overlaid by laterite, which also encroaches upon the sandstone of Bilheree, Moorwarra, and Bijiragogurh. 



19 

64. With the exception of the Kuttungee sub-division of the Seonee district, Bijiragogurh, the most northern of the Jubbulpore district, and Koondum, 1 inspected towns and groups of villages in all these tracts of country, and I will now describe the prevalence of cholera in each. I will begin with the trap country, as it was in this that the disease first ajDpeared. 

65. The trap formation occupies the largest portion of the area over which cholera prevailed with the greatest intensity. It includes the north-western portion of the district of Chindwara, the northern half of the Seonee district, the northern portion of Mundlah, and the south and south-eastern portion of Jubbulpore. It is for the most part a hilly tract of country, presenting a succession ot hills and valleys and undulating upland; but southward and southeast, between the hills of the trap and those of the metamorphic formation, there intervene the open plateau of Seonee and a wide extent of open undulatingcountry that stretches eastward from the Sagur river. Northward again around Burailla in the Jubbulpore district the trap expands into an undulating tract of open county. 

G6. The rivers that drain this region, are the Nerbudda with its numerous affluents, of which the chief are the Shere, the Tamur, and the Gour ; and the Wyngunga, — the principal affluents of which are the Bijna, the Sagur, and the Than war. These streams all possess similar characteristics, — 'they all cut through the clay stratum of the valieys which they traverse, and their beds are thus formed of black basaltic rock lying between steep banks of calcarious clay. 

67. With the exception of the Nerbudda, these rivers are little better than mountain torrents. In the hot weather they consist of a succession of nearly stagnant pools, separated from each other by broad masses of basalt, over which the water trickles in divided streamlets. In the Wyngunga and other of the more important streams the pools are sometimes of considerable extent and depth, and they are commonly shaded by small trees and brushwood growing on the banks. A peculiarity everywhere observable in these rivers, is the almost entire absence of weed. Stagnant though the pools are, the water, even in those that are shallow, is without weed, either on the surface or growing from the bottom. This is no doubt partly due to the rocky nature of their beds and the force of the torrents by which they are scoured in the rainy reason. 

68. The drainage of the country effected by these streams is very complete ; flowing in the lowest trough of the valleys, and with their beds cut down to the non-porous rock that underlies the soil, the sub-soil water is everywhere rapidly drained away, excepting in spots where the underlying rock takes a basinlike form. In these spots water is often abundant between the clay and the rock. In the narrow bottom between the hills also there is often a strip of undrained land, in which water lies between a shallow layer of porous moorum or decomposed trap, and the harder rock below. A jheel or marshy tract of any extent rarely exists. The inhabitants of the villages along the streams depend almost entirely upon them for water. In the open plateau and uplands wells are sunk through the soil and clay down to the rock, but unless a reservoir is formed in the rock the supply becomes very scanty in the hot weather. I have frequently seen, in a well sunk 31 feet through the clay, the water flowing in a small stream across the rock that forms the bottom, and as the rock is hard, a reservoir cannot be formed without blasting. Among the hills the villages depend upon springs or surface wells sunk in the porous moorum of the bottom. These surface wells are in some cases simply open puddles, with the ground sloping towards them from all sides ; in others they are holes from 3 to 8 feet deep, and the loose moorum in which they are dug is prevented from falling in by an interlacement of stout sticks. In some of these surface wells a fair supply 



20 

of water remains throughout the year, in others it becomes extremely scanty in the hot weather, and where this happens the people have daily to scrape out the mud at the bottom of the hole and let a little clear water trickle in. The water in the rivers is soft and sweet, and the same may be said of the spring and well water when it is plentiful. 

G9. The soils of the trap vary in different positions ; in the valleys generally and in some extensive uplands we have " regur " or •' black cotton soil," containing a large proportion of decomposed vegetable matter, spongy, and retentive of moisture, and very fertile, especially where it overlies the deep clay of the valleys. On the flat tops of the hills, in the narrow bottoms betweeen them, and over a wide extent of upland, we have " mooram," chiefly disintegrated nodular trap, light and friable everywhere, thickly strewn with stones, and containing little vegetable matter, producing in the rains a growth of long coarse grass, which however quickly dries up and becomes brown. The hills are in many parts covered with trees, and there is an almost continuous tract of jungle from Lucknadown to Mundlah and from thence to Jubbulpore; the trees however are everywhere small, and the valleys and uplai)ds, even where the soil is good, are singularly bare of trees. The peculiar nature of the vegetation of the trap is thus described by Mr. Blanford in Vol. VI. of "the Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India ;" — "The peculiarity consists in the paucity of large trees and the abundance of grass, which is frequently 3to 4 feet in height. This grass dries almost immediately after the end of the monsoon and forms a natural hay, the principal food of the herbivorous animals of the country, both wild and domestic. The paucity of trees appears due to several causes, — the wanton destruction of the forests by wood-cutters, — the annual burning of the grass,— and its luxuriant growth which must choke the young trees. Locally, on the upland flats the small depth of soil also is unfavourable to the growth of large trees. Those trees which do occur, moreover, are almost without exception deciduous, and lose their leaves very early in the season, while many do not put forth new leaves till the beginning of the rains. The result is that throughout the cold weather, from November till March, all the trap country presents an uniform straw coloured surface, with but very few spots of green to break the monotony; while in March, April, and the greater portion of May, after the grass is mostly burnt, the blacksoil, black rocks, and burnt grass, present an aspect of desolation, unbroken often by a single green leaf, for more than a month after Eastern India is bright with fresh foliage. The only season when the trap country has any beauty is during the rains." 

70. The population of this tract of country is very sparse. In the Lucknadown tehseel it is 80 to the square mile, in Mundlah it is only 36. In the hilly tract Gonds and Purdhans and grazing Aheers form the larger proportion of the population. In the more cultivated parts there is a greater admixture of Hindoos, chiefly Lodhees, Koormees, Aheers and Gaolees. In the more barren parts kodoo and khootkee, cheap kinds of millet, form the staple food of xhe population ; in the richer country wheat is more used. 

71. The trap country is not I think generally unhealthy ; malaria is no doubt prevalent in the valleys in the autumn months, but neither the severer forms of remittent fever, nor the continued fever that prevails in other formations in the spring and Ijot weather, are common in the trap. The Gonds, who form the largest proportion of the inhabitants of hill tracts, are a very hardy and brave race ; they have however a great dread of cholera, often deserting their villages on its first appearance ; and, as will appear in the sequel, not without reason. 

72. The villages are almost always situated on bare rock on the crests or slopes of the hills. They consist of a collection of mud huts thatched in two line^ 



21 

with a broad street between ; they are not crowded together ; but in all the villages a large number of grazing cattle are kept, and these are stalled in sheds adjoining the huts, their droppings are dried and stored for fuel in the sheds, and the street is generally thickly covered with dust and litter. If the water-supply is drawn from a spring or well it is always outside the village and generally at some distance in the bottom below the hill on which the village is situated ; but it follows from the habits of the people that the water-supply is seldom far removed from the locality resorted to for the purposes of nature, — if the people depend on a river for water the banks are habitually defiled, if on a spring or well, the long grass in the bottom around it or the slope of the hill is resorted to. 

73. From the first outbreak in the Gunneshgunj valley cholera did not, as far as can be ascertained, spread to any other locality. It was the Hoolkee valley that became the first focus whence the disease was diffused among the gangs along the road and the neighbouring villages. The first village attacked after Kuladehee was Saleewarra, near Burgee, and about 12 miles north of Hoolkee. The village is situated on a trap hill overlooking the Nerbudda. The population is returned at 33 7. On the 4th May a marriage procession (Bharat,/ arrived at the house of Jubhore Sing Thakoor from Khyrnara in the Seonee district ; it consisted of about 40 persons. They arrived in the evening, and as they would have passed through Hoolkee about noon, they probably stopped and cooked food at the Terrya nullah, but this 1 could not ascertain. Early in the morning following the arrival of the Bharat at Saleewarra, one of the party was taken ill and died at mid-day. The same evening a second Bharati was attacked, the others then dispersed, leaving the sick man behind ; he died the next morning. The first village that suffered was attacked the day after the second Bharati died, and in the course of the next few days 1 7 villagers were attacked, and 10 died ; the bodies were thrown into the Nerbudda. The bodies of the two Bharatees that died were carried to the river, 600 yards distant, by the Ihakoor and two servants; but none of them or any one of their families suffered. This village is built on bare rock ; it was fairly clean, but about 500 head of cattle are stalled in it at night. The water-supply in the hot weather is drawn solely from an old Baolee in the bottom, west of the village ; to draw water people descend by steps winding round the inside and fill their vessels by the hand. In the hot weather there was less than two feet water, and it was dirty, and must be liable to pollution from the mode of drawing from it. 

74. I shall not give many details concerning the prevalence of cholera in the villages on the road, for the inhabitants were so mixed with the coolies employed that the statistics cannot be separated ; there are, however, one or two points connected with the diffusion of the disease in the Hoolkee valley that require to be mentioned. The village of Kuladehee is situated on the side of a hill sloping towards the Terryah river ; the resident inhabitants are returned as 102, but at the time of the outbreak this number was more than doubled by coolies employed on the road. The site of the village is bare rock; the river forms the sole water-supply ; 25 persons are said to have died here altogether. One Seobuns, a carpenter employed on the D. P. W., living in Kuladehee, had three marriageable daughters ; on the Ist May, two days after Gunnesh mate had died of cholera, three Bharatees arrived at his house, two from the Jubbulpore district and one from Seonee ; there were from 9 to 15 persons in each, they stayed two days and left the third. One of the Bharatees from Seonee was attacked while at Kuladehee, but he got better and went away. There were 9 persons in the Bharat; of these 6 died on the way home ; this Bharat met the one abovementioned that reached Saleewarra on the evening of the 4th mid- way between Hoolkee and Dhoomah. Of the other two Bharats that returned to Jubbulpore it is said that none were attacked. 



22 

75, On the opposite bank of the river, about Jof a mile from Kuladehee, and in constant communication with it, is the village of Khapa, with about 400 inhabitants, but not a single case of cholera oocurred among them ,' it is, situated partly on blaeksoil, partly on clay, it is a rioher village than J^ulaclehee, more crowded with cattle and more dirty, but the water-supply is drawn flrom two good wells having several feet of water in the hot weather at 25 feet from the surface of the ground. 

76. The village of Hoolkee, situated on the side of the road, oonsists of about 50 houses, and is chiefly a bazaar for travellers ; it lies on clay and hag two wells sunk 30 feet through the clay, and from this the inhabitants draw their drinking water. Although the several gangs of coolies encamped near here on the bank of the river suffered severely, no death from cholera occurred in the bazaar. Opposite the bazaar, on the other side of the road, is the Mail chowkee ;¦ here 16 horse-keepers were employed, and of these, four died in the course of the epidemic ; the water both for men and horses was drawn entirely from the Terryah river. 

77. Dhoomah is a large village of 1,200 inhabitants, traversed by the road ; it is one of the chief halting places for travellers, and there is a Mail chowkee and a dak bungalow ; a weekly bazaar is also held. Nine persons died here of cholera in the course of the epidemic, but they were all travellers. No deaths occurred among the inhabitants j the village is rather crowded, a great number of cattle are kept in it, and it was not particularly clean. The water-supply is drawn solely from two wells 30 feet deep, a great part of the bore being through rocks. 

78. Poonwarra is a village three miles off the road and above five miles from Dhoomah. A resident of this village, a Bhat, had attended the Bharat that went to Saleewarra from Khyrnara on the 4th May ; he was taken ill there and died two days after his return home ; other Bharatees returned sick with him, two went on to Khyrnara, one of whom died ; another went on to the village of Joobah, and is said to have died (according to the returns four deaths occurred at Khyrnara, none at Joobah). About the time when the Bhat returned sick a Chumar family — father, mother, and son about 12 years of age, — joined a Bharat at Khyrnara ; while there the lad met one of the Bharateee who had returned from Saleewara ; at a tank where they both washed, an hour or so afterwards the lad was taken ill, he was brought back to Poonwarra the next day, and died the day following; no other cases occurred in this village. The only water-supply is a surface well under a large tree below the hill some 400 yards from the village ; in November it contained several feet of water, standing at a level of 4 feet below the surface of the ground ; the people stated that the supply continued abundant throughout the year. The clothes of the Bhat that died were taken by a dhobee and washed in the Shere river, some miles distant. 

79. Lucknadown, the tehseel station, is a large village, with a population of 1,540; it is situated about half a mile from the road, on rocky ground, with a rapid incline towards a stream. A weekly bazaar is held here, and there is a Government Dispensary ; the place was inspected by the Civil Surgeon of Seonee, and thoroughly cleaned in April, when cholera first appeared at Gunneshgunj. The first cases of cholera occurred on the 1 5th May, it prevailed severely for about 10 days only, but cases oontinued to occur now and then till August ; altogether 81 cases oocurred, and of these, 41 died. The first persons attached were qoolies employed on the road and living in a hamlet or tola a short distanoe further up the nullah. There are wells in the village, but the majority of the lower classes drink water from the stream, which is also resorted to for washing and bathing and the banks of which are habitually defiled 



23 

80. Sailooa, a small village of 80 inhabitants, 2 miles from Lucknadown, js situated on the slope of a hill near its base. Cholera broke out about the 21st of May, when 19 cases and 10 deaths were reported ; one death was reported subsequently on the 27th. The first person attacked was a woman who had been employed at Lueknadown grinding wheat ; this woman's hut was situated on blacksoil of some little depth ¦ the disease next attacked a family 4 in number living in a hut close by, all of whom died. The people get their drinking water from a well in low ground at a little distance; the water in this well was 20 feet below the surface in November. In the hot weather it was nearly dry. For washing and bathing the people resorted to the Goorda stream, about 300 yards 4istant ; the pools in this were stagnant. 

81. Koorsepar, a village with a population of 113, half a mile from the last, is situated on a rocky site about 50 yards from the Goorda nullah, but the ground around is blacksoil. The first person attacked with cholera was a woman who had attended the funeral of a person who died in Sailooa. She had eaten her meal there, and was attacked when returning; she had not been at Sailooa more than an hour or so, she died the next day ; the next persons attacked belonged to her family. The first death from cholera was reported on the Ist June; between this and the 14th, 20 cases and 16 deaths were reported. The people draw their drinking water from a surface well in the blacksoil at a little distance from the village ; the level of the water in November was 10 feet below the surface ; for washing and bathing they resorted to the Goorda stream. 

82. Sehora, 7 miles from Lucknadown, is a large village, with a population of 1,700, and holding a weekly bazaar; it is situated on high rocky ground, and was cleaner than the smaller villages. It first appears in the cholera reports on the 27th May, when 9 deaths were reported. The inhabitants gave the following account : — Munniar, a Mussulman, went to Goaree, a neighbouring village, on Saturday the 16th, and on Sunday when returning was taken ill on the road ; he reached home on Tuesday about 8 in the morning; in the evening of that day the child of a Fakeer was attacked and died the next day, the 20th. Munniar did not die till the following Monday, the 25th; in the meantime his mother, several of his family, and others in the village, were attacked and died ; altogether ] 9 deaths (a little over 1 per cent) occurred; of these, 7 were Mahometans, who form a very small fraction of the population. The water-supply for drinking is drawn solely from a surface well about 200 yards from the town, in which there is a good supply at all seasons of the year ; for washing the people resort to a small tank near the well, or to the Shere river which lies half a mile distant in the bottom between Sehora and Rana. The dhobee of the place stated that he washed the clothes of the Mahomedan and others that died, in the Shere. 

83. Bana is rather more than a mile N.E. of Sehora. The path first descends to the Shere, then crosses a ridge into another bottom, it thence ascends to the flat top of the ridge on which Rana is situated; the surface of the ground is so thickly strewn with nodular trap that it was difficult to make way over it; there are a few stunted trees and one moderately fine peepul tree near the village, but otherwise the ridge would be in May bare of all vegetation. The village consists of about 80 houses with a population of 346, and is divided into three parts or tolas ; the main tola of about 60 houses is placed on the northern edge of the ridge overlooking a narrow bottom ; on the slope of the opposite ridge the other tolas are placed ; these are separated by a dry rocky water-course; the larger of them consists of 16 houses, the smaller of only 4, The several portions of the village are all built on nodular trap, the only material like soil covering the rock being a fine dust composed of the ashes and dried sweepings of the place. The sources of water-supply are a surface well and an open spring, the former in the bottom at a- little distance tQ the east of the village, and the spring 



24 

under the peepul tree on the side of the water-course between the two smaller tolas ; in each of them in November there was from 6 to 8 feet water, but in the hot weather both were nearly dry, and the people could only obtain water by scraping 1 away with their hands the mud at the bottom and letting a little clean water trickle in. The mouth of the surface well to ihe east of the village was to a certain extent protected by a rough pavement, but at the spring there wasnot the slightest protection, and the ground sloping towards the water from all sides was also much fouled by cattle ; from this spring all the people of the two smaller tolas would draw water and about half of the inhabitants of the main village. For washing the people resort to the same part of the Shere as the people of Sehora ; and where I crossed women from both villages were washing clothes in the same pool. Cholera broke out on the 22nd May, and between that date and the end of the month 36 deaths occurred, and by the 4th June 61 cases and 45 deaths had been reported ; it then ceased. In this instance there was no direct evidence to show that the disease had been imported ; the first person attacked was a boy 7 years old, son of a Purdhan living in the smallest tola in the western extremity of the village. He was taken ill in the early morning of the 22nd (Friday) and died the next day; the father and mother had been to the bazaar at Sehora on the previous Sunday, but after that they had not left the village. Two other persons living in the second tola and near the spring were attacked the same da}r, but neither of them had left the village previously. Out of 10 persons living in the smallest tola, 4 died, or 40 per cent; of from 60 to 70 persons in the 2nd tola 13 died, or 20 per cent ; of the remainder in the chief portion of the village 28 persons' or 10 per cent died. The total mortality in 13 days was 13 per cent of the 

84. Mohgaon is a village 3 miles from Lucknadown, situated on a hill ; population 137. The two Dheemur women before mentioned (para. 51) arrived here on the 28th, but no other cases of cholera occurred at the time ; subsequently a woman of the village returning from Lucknadown was taken ill; she recovered,, but her two children caught the disease and died ; there were no other cases. Cholera was thus twice brought to this village, but it did not spread. The sole source of water-supply is a surface well at a considerable distance in the valley below; it contains a good supply of water throughout the year. In want of proper cleanliness this village did not differ from the other villages in which cholera prevailed severely ; in fact the general description of these villages before given applies to all alike, and it will not be necessary to refer to this point, excepting when a place may be exceptionally clean or dirty. 

85. The town of Seonee has a population of 10,261 ; it is situated on the main road on high ground with good drainage from it. Great attention had been paid to cleanliness and conservancy, and during the prevalence of cholera it was inspected almost daily by the Civil authorities. There are wells in the town, the? water of which was 27 feet from the surface in November; it is, however hard and rather brackish ; the better class of people draw water from a well in the public garden, but a large proportion of the inhabitants depended on a pucka tank of extent and depth on the opposite side of the road, parallel with the town, along nearly its whole length. Its catchment area is occupied by the town and station, all the surface water of which runs into it ; the water must therefore be very impure, and in the hot weather and early part of the rains the effluvia from it is very offensive. Cholera first appeared on the 1 7th May ; the first cases however were not attacked in the town but at some lime kilns in the jungle about three miles distant. The outbreak is thus described by Doctor Brake, who inspected the locality at the time : — " There are no houses on the »pot, and the place would strike one as particularly unhealthy. The pits are at the base 



25 

of low basaltic hills, the lime being found near the surface, either under the disintegrated basaltic blacksoil or under the more solid rock. The place is in a hollow, surrounded closely by hills from south-east to south-west and west; the formation of the ground is very broken and irregular up to somewhat more distant hills to the east. Towards the north-east it slopes upwards towards Seonee, losing its covering of scant jungle, which gives place to some poor cultivation and ground covered with moist grass, but now dry. Close to the work and the kilns is the only water in the neighbourhood, the footsteps about showing that it has been much resorted to. It is found in two very shallow puddles, very offensive in appearance and smell, and appearing to be quite stagnant, but a narrow connecting nullah of mud and water shows the slightest sign of a moving current. The immediate neighbourhood is offensive from human excreta. Fifteen men had been working there, and four or five usualty slept there, the others coming into Seonee. Of four so sleeping all were seized on Saturday ; two died on the spot, and two in Seonee. A third person died in the town on the 1 7th. Thia morning three other cases occurred in the town, — one a traveller coming from Chupparah ; a second a Chupprassee, who has been very much about in and about the station ; the third being the wife of a seller of corn and spices, also constantly moving about." 

86. Cholera was at no time very severe in Seonee, cases occurring from the middle of May till quite the end of August ; there was rather a lull in July, but an increase again in August. Altogether 159 cases and 80 deaths were reported, the mortality being 7*B per 1,000 of the population. Early in March in the present year cholera again broke out in Seonee ; by the end of the month the mortality had reached a rate of 12 per diem. On the 29th, at my suggestion, a guard was put over the tank ; and the people were also prevented from drawing water from a foul stream behind the town ; the next day 1 1 deaths occurred, it then rapidly declined ; and on the 2nd April two deaths only were reported ; on the 3rd none. The epidemic did not however cease altogether, but cases continued to occur till the beginning of July. From Ist March to 10th April 86 deaths occurred, from the 10th April to 7th July 39. 

87. Leaving Seonee for Mundla the road after the first four or five miles leaves the trap hills and enters a tract of forest in which there are many large trees ; the rock is here metamorphic, and is covered with a thin layer of sandy soil. Emerging from the forest at the village of Bhooma we enter a rich plain, which is traversed by the Sagur river ; the soil is rich blacksoil, but the rock underlying continues metamorphic as far as Kaneewarra and Khyree. 

88. Kaneewarra is a Police outpost, but the reports from the villages in this neighbourhood are very incomplete. At Bhooma I was told 14 deaths had occurred, but the village does not appear in the returns. 

89. The village of Kaneewarra is situated on gravelly soil overlying metamorphic rock, but close around the sub-soil is yellow clay. The water-supply for drinking is drawn from a Baolee in low swampy ground a £ mile from the village; in the hot weather the water lies at 12 or 14 feet from the surface, but in the rains it rises level with the surface of the ground. Around the village are several large tanks or jheels, from which it is probable that most of the poorer people draw water in the rains. The population of the village is 760, and a weekly bazaar is held there. Seven deaths from cholera are reported at long intervals from the 12th June to 15th August. 

90. Khyree is situated on a mound of soft decomposed granite, but the country around is rich alluvium. The first case of cholera was reported on the 3rd 



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July, and the last on the 1 4th ;in this interval 32 deaths occurred. The population is 359. The first case was a Qond woman, living near the Well. There is ho evidence of the disease having been imported. The source of water for drinking is a well sunk in the bank of a nullah that contained stagnant, foul water, and which is much denied by the people ; the water in the well was 10 feet from the surface- of the ground, and at about the level of the water in the nullah ; the bore was for the first four feet through soil, the rest through soft moorum or gravel. The Police were called upon by the Deputy Commissioner to report on this village* and the following is a translation of the Police report : — 

" This village is always kept clean, and it has only one deep well outside, the water of which is used by all the villagers ; but there was one thing very remarkable, which is worthy of notice, i. <?., the water of this well during the period cholera had raged here changed its colour and looked quite black, and with it there was a difference in its taste also. There being no other well the people were obliged to use this water, and the consequence was taat they complained of indigestion ; but of late the water resumed its former colour and taste, and now there is no such complaint. There is a nullah close to the village, but the water in it is always dirty, and no one uses it. Though cholera had visited this, village twice on former occasions, causing deaths of 4 and 5 at each time of its, visit, still the well water never changed its colour as it has done this year." 

91. Hinnotia, — a large village of about 500 inhabitants, on the Sagur river, the water of which the people drank. This village does not appear in the reports, but the people informed me that 1 5 deaths had occurred there. 

92. Balleewarra, — a village on the Sagur, on alluvial soil; population 244. There are three good wells, the water in which was 25 feet from the surface in November ;in a good rainy season it rises 12 feet higher. The people of the village use water from the \iells, but there is a separate tola inhabited solely by Gonds, who drink water from the river only. The first person attacked was an Aheerun, who had been out tending cattle, and came home ill ; she recovered, and another person attacked in her house also recovered. The disease then attacked the Gonds in the tola, and 14 deaths occurred among them in 34 days ; 3 died in one house ; the first death was reported on the 10th July. 

93. The villages of Choulwarra and Rogan, on deep alluvial soil, opposite each other on the bank of the river, and depending on the river for water, both suffered from cholera slightly, but they do not appear in the reports. As far as these villages the substratum is metamorphic, and the river flows on a sandy bed between steep clay banks. 

94. The villages of Kyra and Myra are situated on either bank of the stream, and about XOO yards apart. Kyra, on the right bank, is on deep blacksoil ; the right bank is rocky and rising somewhat abruptly ; and Myra is built on base trap rock. There is no well in either village and both depend on the river for water — i bathing, and washing clothes, and drawing their drinking water from the same pool. The bed of the river at the ford between the villages is base basalt, with a narrow streamlet flowing over it, and stagnant pools above and below. Cholera was first reported on the sth June. The first cases occurred in Kyra, — three or four persons had been with the Malgoozar to Seonee, and returned on Sunday (31st May); the next day two men (JBurhaees) living in different parts of the village were attacked. None of those who ha 4 been to Seonee had been ill. In Myra the first person attacked was the Kotwal's wife ; the next the Patel. In Kyra, out of a population of 362, 24 cases and 20 deaths were reported. In Myra, out of a population of 273, there were 20 cases and 13 deaths ; the mortality being 5J and 4 \ per cent of the population respectively. No cases were reported after tfa sth June; on the 3rd June there wa§ a heavy fall of rain. 



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95. East of the Saguf the country is open and undulating ; {He soil is blacksoil, in some parts overlying the vesicular trap, and producing grass only ; in others on clay or moorum, and bearing rich crops of wheat arid gram. Cholera did hot spread very much in this direction, but some villages suffered severely. 

96. Burrora, — a large village near Kyra, on high ground ; Soil, blacksoU and clay overlying moorum. Water-supply from a well only ; water in well in January 18 feet from the surface; in the rains it rises to 6 feet. No cholera last year. 

97. Jugra, — a village situated in a plain of rich blacksoil; the crops of wheat and gram looking remarkably fine, notwithstanding the dryness of the season. '1 he site of the village is a mound of hard moorum (decomposed granite), a small stream running below; near the stream is a well, the water in which is now 6 feet from the surface, but in the rains it rises level with the surface of the ground; the water of the well however is rather hard, and the people use the water of the stream drawn from a small masonry tank or cistern made in the bed of the stream ; this is quite open, and the water is dirty; after heavy rain the stream would overflow the cistern. The first cases of cholera were reported on the 12th July. It appeared first in a Bharat of 25 persons that came from Dhanagara, on the Sagur river, where cases of cholera had previously occurred. The first person attacked was a girl that came with the Bharat; next the bride was carried .off; then the bride's mother; it then spread over the village. Between the 12th and 24th July 64 cases and 43 deaths were reported; but the people say that deaths occurred occasionally during three or four weeks after this, and they reckoned up 52 .deaths altogether. The population in 1866 was 511. 

"98. Lossa, — a large village, on blacksoil, two miles north-west of Juora. This village was burnt down a few years ago, and rebuilt on a new site, selected by the Deputy Commissioner; it is on sloping ground, and consists of two long rows of houses with a wide street between them running east and west. 45 deaths were reported on the 9th August, bub the people state that 59 deaths occurred in the course of about a month; the population is returned the same as Jugra, 511. The inhabitants draw water from a stream below the slope, having deep stagnant pools with muddy banks and bottom. There were two wells, — an old one, dry, but which the Malgoozar was trying to deepen, — and a new one in course of being built. The dry well in the village was 1 4 feet deep, the lower 7 feet being through hard basalt; the new well was on lower ground, the bore was through 5 feet of blacksoil, 1 2 feet of clay and rock; water was reached at 12 feet from the surface. This village suffered severely from cholera in 1865. 

Bichooa, — -a small village on trap rock between Lossa and Khyra. Nine deaths were reported in the middle of July; population not given ; waterrsupplv from a stream below the rock. 

99. The country to the north of the Sagur river between Myra and the village of Pindraye, on the Wyngunga, a distance of 12 miles, is a succession of hill and narrow valley and rocky barren upland. The villages are small and scattered, and built on the ridges; and for water-supply they are generally dependent on surface wells in the bottom. A large proportion suffered severely from cholera. . 

100. Ghunsore, — a village midway between the Sagur and the Wyngunga ; it consists of two portions or tolas, each on a separate rocky ridge ; the population of tjie whole village is returned as 461 ; about 260 would be in one tola (No. 1), 200 in the other (No 2). Cholera first appeared on the 3rd July ; On that date 7 cases and 1 death were reported ; and on the 9th, 27 cases and 19 deaths,— in all 34 cases and 20 deaths; the villagers, however, gave a somewhat different account. The first person attacked was a Sonar, resident in tola No. 1 ; fcut no other cases followed then. A day or so afterwards it broke out in tola 



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No. 2, and spread with rapidity ; a great number were attacked, but a large proportion recovered ; and the epidemic did not continue more than a few days. Subsequently it broke out in No. 2 ; it did not spread rapidly, but it continued a long time ; and altogether there was greater mortality in No. 1 than in No. 2 tola ; they reckoned up 42 deaths in the two tolas ; a large proportion were children. The source of water-supply of No. 1 tola is a surface well in the middle of a swamp, 300 or 400 yards trom the village, below the ridsre. In January one or two ditches with water had to be crossed to reach the well ; and in the rains it would be scarcely accessible, and the people would drink from the jheel itself. The slope from the ridge to the swampy ground and the long grass in the swamp were much defiled. Tola No. 2 drew its water-supply entirely from the small stream below. The bed of the stream is black basalt, and the ascent to the village is rocky and precipitous. The inhabitants of both tolas resorted to the river for bathing and washing clothes. Heavy rain was registered daily both at Seonee and Lucknadown from the 9th to the 13th. This rain would have scoured the stream, but fouled the jheel. Prior to the 9th July not more than half an inch of rain had fallen at one time, since the 10th of June. 

101. Between Ghunsore and the Wyngunga the country is waste and rocky, covered with stunted jungle; the hills in this part of its course abut closely upon the river ; on the north of the river the ground rises abruptly to an undulating stony plateau, on which Pindraye, Doondunannee, Raipoora, and other villages are situated, lying below the plateau; on the north is the rich valley of Soonwarra. 

102. The village of Soonwarra is situated in the middle of the valley, on deep blacksoil ; it has 1,200 inhabitants ; and a weekly bazaar is held every Thursday, which is attended from a wide circle of villages. It is well shaded by large tamarind trees, and it has an abundant supply of water from wells sunk 40 feet through blacksoil and clay. A large number of cattle are kept in the village; and it was more crowded and more dirty than the generality of villages. About f mile from the village, under a hill at the western extremity of the valley, is a tola, which contained at the census 242 inhabitants, chiefly Gowlees and Gonds, The village is built on rocky ground, among stunted jungle. The sole source of water-supply was a spring about 200 yards from the hamlet, the water trikling out under a slab of trap rock into a small pool, the water in which was not more than a few inches in depth, and it would be impossible to fill an ordinary vessel without disturbing the bottom ; the ground all around was muddy and fouled by cattle. Cholera broke out here on the 19th May, and the following is the account given of the out-break: — On the 15th May a Gowlee went from the tola to Lucknadown, where cholera had then appeared ; he stayed there two days and returned to the tola on the 17th; he was not ill when he returned, nor was he attacked afterwards. On the 19th a woman was attacked about mid-day, and died at night ; the next day, the 20th, the Patel was attacked, and he died the day following (the 21st); on that day there were 11 cases, and by the 27th, 52 cases had occurred, of whom 51 died; the survivors then dispersed into the jungles, and when they afterwards reassembled they found that altogether 63 of their number had been carried off. The bodies of those that died first were thrown into the Wyngunga, which is about a mile distant; afterwards they were thrown away in the jungle near, and at last they appear to have been left where they died. At the large village of Soonwarra not a single person was attacked at this time ; one death from cholera was reported sometime afterwards ; and one or two cases that recovered are said to have followed. 

103. Ama nullah, — 4 miles from Soonwarra, at the eastern extremity of the valley, on blacksoil, well shaded by trees. The source of water supply is a small stream which had been dammed to increase the supply ; the banks are habitually defiled; and the cattle are watered at the same place, from which the villagers draw 



29 

water. The first person attacked was a man who had been to Soonwarra bazaar on the 9th July, — he returned well, but was seized at night, and died in about four hours; the next person attacked was a woman living in another part of the village ; the third, a servant of the Malgoozar ; it then spread over the village, 3 to 8 dying daily for some days. The first deaths were reported on the 14th July, the last on the 30th ; altogether 66 cases and 49 deaths were reported out of a population of 523. 

104. Raipoora, — a small village on a trap hill; water-supply from a surface well below the hill, but in rather high ground, from which the surface drainage would be carried off rapidly. No cholera reported ; one child is said to have died. 

105. Pindraye, — five miles south-east of Soonwarra, on an open plateau overlooking the Wyngunga ; the population was 202, chiefly Gonds and Gowlees ; the soil, blacksoil, thickly strewn with nodular trap. A surface well on low ground near the next village of Doondawanee had been the source of water-supply, but ithad fallen in, and the people had for some time drawn water from a deep pool in the Gunga, which is about half a mile distant. Cholera appeared on the 1 9th June. The first case was a Dheemur, who returned ill from the neighbouring village of Khapa, and died the same day. The following night a Gowlee was attacked, and many others the next day. 28 cases and 17 deaths were reported on the 25th, and 12 deaths on the 27th; altogether 33 deaths are stated to have occurred. In the former epidemic this village had escaped. The villagers stated that at the time of the out-break a dead body was seen floating in the pool from which they drew their water. 1 1 is the common custom to throw dead bodies into the larger river, particularly during times of cholera pestilence. Many of the bodies of those that died at Soonwarra were thrown into the river, but that was nearly a month previously, and Soonwarra is four or five miles above Pindraye. According to the reports, Pindraye was the first village attacked in that neighbourhood after Soonwarra. The river was low at the time of the out-break, but there had been heavy rain 10 days previously, and a body may have been brought down from a distance. Of the bodies of those that died at Pindraye some were thrown into the river, others into the jungle along its bank; the villagers along the 'Gunga do not use water from it. 1 hey are commonly at some distance from the banks, which are steep and inaccessible. Below Pindraye is a deep pool of more than a mile in length, very deep. Two miles lower down, at the end of another deep pool, is a hamlet or tola of the village of Koondaree, the inhabitants of which use the river water. Several deaths occurred in the beginning of July, but the number cannot be given, as the reports include deaths in the village, which is a mile 

101. Doondawanee, — a village on a ridge less than a mile from Pindraye ; population 320. Cholera broke out about three weeks after it appeared at Pindraye; 41 deaths were reported on the 17th, and 4 subsequently ; the people say that 50 deaths occurred in 15 days. The source of water-supply is a surface well in a strip of marshy ground, in the bottom below the ridge ; the water was very near the surface in January; the ground around is muddy, and after heavy rain the surface water of the swamp would cover the well. The people acknowledged to using the slope of the ridge arid'long grass near the well as an ordure field. The out-break of cholera apparently occurred after the heavy fall of rain on the 10th and llth July ; up to that time the village had remained free, notwithstanding its close proximity to Pindraye. There was no evidence of the disease having been imported ; the first person attacked was a woman living in the village. This village suffered severely in 1865. 

107. Keolaree, — the head-quarters of the sub-division, situated on the Sagur river, near its junction with the Wyngunga; the population is returned at 1,358; it was very clean and well kept. It lies on trap rock nearly bare of soil, sloping 



30 

towards the river, which is the chief source of water-supply. It here forms a deep pool, nearly stagnant in the hot weather ; but the little current there is is under the bank on which the town is placed; the people bathe and draw drinking water from the same pool. Cholera was twice imported into this place, but it did not spread. The first instance was that of a man who had been t to Seonee ; he was taken ill immediately on his return, and died on the Ist June. A month afterwards a Mussulman who had been to Surukha, a village in the neighbourhood, where cholera was prevalent, returned ill and died ; after this one or two cases occurred, but they recovered. In 1865 cholera caused great mortality here, — they say that then upwards of 50 persons died ; and this year 27 deaths occurred at the end 

108. Kohkah, — a village on the Gunga river, two miles from Keolaree; population 298. 11 persons died from cholera ; the first death was reported on 6th June. The villagers gave the following account of the out-break : — The body of the man that returned ill from Seonee, and died at Keolaree, was buried in the jungle towards Kohkah. It was, however, dug up again by jackals, and was there seen by an Aheer tending cattle ; he was attacked the same night and died the next day. The day he died, a Rajpoot woman living in another part of the village was attacked and died. It then spread over the village; 7 persons died in the first two days; afterwards there was an interval of three or four days between each death. The village is on high rocky ground, about J of a mile from the river. The people drink water from a surface well a little distance from the village ; the supply was extremely scanty when cholera broke out ; the well was quite unprotected, by coping, from pollution from the surface. 

109. From Keolaree, on the border of the Seonee district, the road to Mundla, after crossing the Wyngunga, traverses for 15 miles a wide tract of waste and jungle; it then enters the Heerapore valley, in which there are many large villages belonging to the Pindraye circle. Cholera prevailed among them to a great extent. Heerapore, the largest village, escaped. It is situated on trap, but in the valley below, the blacksoil is of great depth. The sub-soil water is within a few feet of the surface, and the people draw their water from surface wells sunk in cultivated ground. At N eewarra, a village not half a mile from Heerapore, similarly situated, 15 deaths from cholera occurred in May and June out of a population of 452. The water-supply is derived partly from a well and partly from a stream. At Gokulthana, less than a mile from Heerapore, on the other side, 15 deaths occurred in August, out of a population of 418. The water-supply here also is drawn partly from a well and partly from the same stream. The first person attacked in the village was the wife of the Kotwal of the neighbouring village of Jeonara, who lived at Gokulthana, but went daily backwards and forwards to Jeonara. In the latter village, which is close to Gokulthana, cholera had broke out in July, and 25 persons died out of a population of 286. There is no well in this village, and the people derived their water solely from the stream. 

110. From Heerapore the road again traverses for 10 or 15 miles hill and dense jungle, opening out here and there into glades of cultivated land occupied by small villages inhabited by Gonds ;in several, cases of cholera occurred. At Oomadehi, population 95, three deaths were reported ; water-supply from a spring. At Dhoonda, quite in dense forest, population 146, five deaths; water-supply also from a spring. These villages were very dirty,-— the villagers keeping a number of cattle, which they water at the springs. Crossing a range of hills the road descends into the valley of the Nerbudda opposite Mundla. Several villages in this part of the valley suffered. 

111. At Nadia, population 153, situated on blacksoil, with a dense tope of mango trees to the west, 7 cases occurred in July ; water is drawn from a small stream running into the Bunjur. At Palaygaon, half a mile from Nadia, on 



31 

high rocky ground overlooking the Bunjur river, population 257, 12 deaths occurred in June; water drawn from the stream that passes Nadia and from the Bunjur river. 

Kedarpore, — a village also about half a mile from Nadia, on trap rock ; water-supply from a well only; the well is situated in garden ground outside the village. The water in January was 15 feet from the surface, but it rises level with the ground in the rains. The bore of the well is through blacksoil and basalt. No cholera. 

112. Maharajpore is a large village with a population of 1587, on alluvial soil, at the junction of the Bunjur river with the Nerbudda; the water-supply is solely from the river. 14 cases of cholera occurred in June; of these, 10 drew their water-supply from the Bunjur, where the water is shallow and the bank muddy; and 4 from the Nerbudda, where there is a stone ghat and the water is deep. 

113. The town of Mundla is situated on the Nerbudda. The site of the town is alluvial clay, rising about 30 feet above the water. The town looks very clean; there are public latrines, and conservancy is well attended to. All the drainage of the town, however, must necessarily go into the river. The population of the town in 1866 was 4,336. The out- break of cholera in 1868 is thus described by the Civil Surgeon, Dr. Kidd :—": — " On the Ist June the Police reported that a woman who had recently left Seonee had arrived in Mundla ill with cholera; she took ill on the road, and died a few hours after being brought to her house in the town. On the night of the 2nd a case of cholera occurred near the house where the woman died. On the 3rd as many as 8 cases occurred along the road in the town by which the woman had been carried; of these 8, 5 died the same day. From this time the disease rapidly spread over the whole town, the number of fresh cases per day rising to 11 on the 9th June; it then fluctuated from 1 to 4, and again increased to 7on the 22nd, up to 10 on the 24th. The entire month of June was hot and close, as only a few occasional showers at the early period had fallen, — in all about 4 inches ; the wind was light and variable from west to south-west, south, and south-east." 

" The average number that died per day amounted to 3, the largest number that died on one day (the 25th June)|amounted to 8. Cholera cases continued to occur in the town more or less up to the first heavy fall of rain on the Ist July; after that the disease began to die out, and ceased altogether about the end of the month." 

Altogether between the Ist June and the middle of July 130 deaths were reported, or 3 per cent of the population. 

114. In Maharajpore, on the western bank of the river, the mortality amounted to only o*9 per cent of the population. Cholera broke out again in Mundla in the middle of May of this year, and in ths space of a month carried off 1 1 4 victims, or 2*6 per cent of the population. In Maharajpore there have only been 6 deaths. 

As regards character and depth of soil, construction of houses, and ventilation, the conditions are much the same at both places, with the exception that, of the two, Mundlah is much better looked after in matters of cleanliness and conservancy. Mundla, being on the western bank of the river, the prevailing wind in the hot weather would blow across the river to Mundla, and the air would consequently contain rather more moisture than at Maharajpore. 

Both places almost entirely depend on the river for water ; there are numerous stone ghats on both sides of the town; the people, however, bathe, wash clothes and cooking vessels, and draw water for drinking, at the same ghats indiscriminately. Mundla is situated in a bend of the river, which here forms 



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a still reach or lake, extending from Ramnuggurto the Khurrur ford, a distance of 10 miles. The bend in which the town lies is very acute, the lower arm on the western side of the town running almost parallel, but in an opposite direction, to the upper or eastern arm. At the apex of the curve the Bunjur river joins the JNerbudda. Immediately below the junction, on the left bank cf the river opposite Mundla, is the village of Maharajpore ; between Mundla and Maharajpore the river is about 250 yards broad; in the middle it is very deep, and the fall from the bank is rapid. At the ghats on either side the water, 10 to 20 feet from the bank, varies in depth from 10 to 15 feet in the hot weather; the rapid at the Khurrur ford, below Mundla, in the same season is from 3to 4 feet deep. With so shallow a stream from so large a lake the current in the latter in the hot weather cannot be strong, and it is said to be not more than one mile in 4 hours ; it follows, however, from the form of the curve, that whatever current there is, must run under the Maharajpore bank. On the returns a second time showing so great a difference in the mortality of the two places, 1 wrote for accurate information with regard to the current and depth of water on each bank; but before my letter reached the river had risen. Dr. Kidd, the Civil Surgeon, however, writes as follows :—": — " In the rains the greatest current is on the Maharajpore side, at Maharajpore itself. The Nerbudda coming down meets the Bunjur almost at right angles, the apex pointing to Maharajpore, where the joint curve impinges ; it is thence thrown back upon the Civil station below Mundla, where the current is usually very strong, passing close under the Cutcherry. 1 have noticed that no sand is deposited on the Mundla side, whereas there is a good deal on the Maharajpore side. A large quantity of mud is usually deposited on the Mundla side between the old fort and the Civil station. A little sand is seen on the right bank near the Khurrur ford, but the greatest quantity is on the left bank all the way down the river." 

115. it appears then that the portion of the river under Mundla between the fort and the Civil station is a backwater, which in the hot weather would be stagnant, the current running under Maharajpore and there crossing over to the bank under the Civil station. In 1868 cholera broke out in Mundla in June before any rain had fallen, and did not cease until the river was flooded in July ; in the present year it broke out in the middle of May, and, after running a short but severe course, terminated, without the river having been affected by rain. Of 114 deaths 80 occurred in the week ending the. 22nd May. Dr. Kidd states :—: — " The number of deaths in Maharajpore was very few, and when traced it was frequently found that the attacked had gone over from, or visited Mundla. The servants of the officers in the Civil station had no sickness, and the Police also escaped ; the few cases that did occur among the Police were all from Mundla, 

1 16. Eastward from Mundla cholera broke out at Ramnuggur, on the Nerbudda, 8 miles distant, on the 12th June, where 42 persons died out of a population of 714. Over the country east of this point cholera did not become epidemic. An isolated out-break, however, occurred in the village of Kurondee, in the Kamgurh tehseel, 60 miles east of Mundla. The out-break was reported at the Kamgurh Swion-house on the 21st July, and 2(5 persons were carried oft, out of a population of 176 or 14*6 per cent The country between Mundla and Kamgurh consists of trap hills, covered with stunted forest, and is very sparsely populated. No details of this out-break are available, but the infection was probably imported from Mundla. 

117. From Mundla to Burrailla, in the Jubbulpore district, a distance of 50 miles, the road lies through almost continuous jungle, and for miles together no village or dwelling is visible. A little distance to the east of the road at several points the forest opens out into wide glades, in which several villages lie. The formation is still trap and the characteristics of the country are the same as have been 



33 

ftefdre described. Many of the tillages along this line of cottfltry suffered severely. The first group of villages inspected lay in ft tract of open couritrf traversed by the Babeya river, the villages feeing 1 chiefly placed on rtfeky ridges, and drawing water from the wells in the valley below or from the stream. This group escaped cholera. 

118. Phoolsagree, — water supply front a deep well. No cholera. 

Goaree, — water-supply from a deep well lined with masonry; water in January 20 s feet from the surface ; ordinarily in the rains it rises to within three or four feet ©f the surface. No cholera last year, or in the epidemic of 1&65. 

Buchen Gondee, — 2$ miles from Gcaree ; water-supply from Babeya nullah. No cholera last year, but suffered severely in iSGo. 

Sagur,-— 2j miles from Goaree ; water-supply also from nullah. No cholera last season, but suffered severely in 1865. 

Bucko-war, — 3^ miles from Goaree; water-supply from a well. No cholera last 

Lallpore, — a small village on the road, (5 miles from the Babeya river; watersupply from a deep well. No cholera. Some travellers on the road are said to have died here. From this point of the road there is a cart traclc leading 1 to a cluster of villages in an open bit of country traversed by a stream, 

119. Bhowal, — 2 miles from Lallpore; population 168; village on a trap hill; Water-supply from the stream below. 10 dy iths from cholera in. the beginning of June. The first person that died was a Gondnee ; she had been to the stream below the village (not the same place where they drink water) to wash clothes ; she there saw the body of a man who had come from Koorsepar, in the Se'onee district, across the Nerbudda, to make offerings at a shrine in a small hamlet of the next village, Goojher, and had died of cholera by the stream. The woman came back frightened, was attacked with cholera the same evening, and di d the next morning; The same day that she died 3 others were taken ill and died before evening in different parts of the village. Deaths — 1 man, 5 women, 4 children — age, from 8 to 12 years. 

120. Goojher, — \ mile from Bhabul ; population 177 ;on blaoksoil; watersupply from a surface well quite unprotected, ground cut away, and sloping towards mouth from all sides; a stone where the people sit for washing themselves is cluse to the edge of the slope; a board is placed across the well at the level of the water, on which they stand to dip up water. The depth of water is now about 3 feet; in the hot. weather it is nearly dry; and as it got dry the people used to dig a little deeper, so that the water used was always muddy. The first case was a Lohar, who went ti<^ bathe in the nuliah, and saw the body of the man above mentioned; he returned frightened, was taken ill at once, and died the same evening. The next case was a Csondnee, living two or three houses oft"; she was attacked the next morning bu4 one after the Lohar died; it then spread over the village. Deaths — 3 men, 3 woafia, 4 children. 

121. Beejagaon, — one mile from Goojlier; on trap hill; small village; water- 

Bumbnee,— a village a mile from Beejagaon, on a bare trap rock, rising almost precipitously from the stream, with a small tola below on the other side of the stream. The population of the whole village is 131; of this number about 40 occupied the small tola; the water-supply of the village on the hill is from a masonry irell 15 feet deep. The people in the tola get water from the stream only; the people from botlv village and tola wash their clothes and bathe in the strea-m. 14 cteaftfos from ctoltem occurred ia the small tola, none in the village on tb&Hftgl; 



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the people in the tola are all Punkhas (an inferior caste of Gonds). The first that died had been across the Nerbudda to some village, and was taken ill after his return; it then spread over the hamlet, and the 10 deaths occurred in a few days. 

122. Koomhar, —a village on a trap hill, rising precipitously above the road; population about 200; water-supply from a deep puckha well below the village. No cholera. A traveller died under a peepul tree on the road close under the village. 

123. Chamarwara, — a small village Ij mile from Narraingunj ; population 34. Deaths from cholera, 9 ; water-supply from a small jeerah on blacksoil below village, now 2i feet of water and mud, in the hot weather nearly dry; they «an only get water by scraping out the mud daily. Deaths — 4 women, 3 boys, 2 girls, 7to 8 years old. 

Deoree. — a small village -| mile from Narraingunj; population 130. Eight deaths. Water-supply from a small stream. 

124. Narraingunj, — a village on the Halai river, situated on the right bank, which is here about 8u feet high and very steep ; the bed of the river is about 100 yards broad, and a mass of black basalt ; the banks are of clay, with a thin itiyer of blacksoil overlying. There is a fair stream running in clefts of the rock, b\it it is sub-divided in many little streamlets, and the river can be crossed without wetting the feet. Above the ford is a large pool, extending a mile up the river and very deep ; from this a large portion of the poorer people draw their drinking water; the people also bathe here, and the banks are defiled. In the village is a large pucka well, 42 feet deep, and containing 1£ foot of water; from this well all the better class of people drink water. Among those who used the well water no cases of cholera occurred, but among those who drank water from the river 6 deaths occurred — 2 men, 2 women, and 2 children. 

125. Pateyrah, — a village a mile from Narraingunj, on the right of the road, situated on the slope of a trap hill ; population 200; water-supply from a pucka well, bore through blacksoil and clay ; water now 25 feet from surface, in the rains it rises to about 2 feet; the well is on cultivated ground, at some distance from the village. One death from cholera — a girl 12 years of age, who had been to another village for work, and returned ill. 

126. Dunwahi, — a Gond village, rather more than a mile on the right of the road. Near the 25th milestone from Jubbulpore there is a well under a tree with a good supply of water; there is no dwelling or building of any kind, but the place is much used as a stopping place for travellers ; from this point of the road the path leads off to Dunwahi. This village is situated on trap rock under the hills, encircling a considerable space of open level ground; the soil of this glade is blacksoil, but chiefly uncultivated, and covered with long dry grass; there is no other village near. The sole water-supply of the village consists of a small spring issuing from an excavation in the nodular trap ; the pool into which the water issues is three or four feet in diameter, totally unprotected, in fact a mere puddle, the ground all round muddy and fouled by cattle ; the water was thick and muddy, containing an abundance of young frogs and water insects ; bubbles of air rising from the former, and disturbing the mud, were visible every instant ; the depth of water and mud together was 10 inches; in the hot weather it would be nearly dry; the people say that then they only get water by scraping out the muddy bottom with the hands and letting a little fresh water trickle in. The population in 1866 was 106. Cholera broke out on the 26th of May, and 12 deaths occurred. The following is an account of the out-break given by the people: — Thikor, a Gondnee, went one morning some distance into the jungle to the Hingna river to catch fish. In the evening she returned with what she had. caught, and cooked it for the evening meal for herself and family, consisting of 



35 

her mother and two children; she was taken ilia little while before dawn, and died about 9 ; the mother was attacked a little later, and died in the evening; the two children escaped. The next persons attacked, were first a Gond, second a Bhoey; and the third another Gond; these were all attacked in the course of the night and day following that on which the woman died; all 3 died; after this it spread over the village. The epidemic lasted about 15 days ; the deaths were 6 men, G women, 4 boys, 3 girls,- — the ages of the children from sto 9. The men. present look fairly healthy, the children were pot-bellied ; one man had stone in the bladder. I could not ascertain that they suffered much from bowel complaint of any kind. Fever does not appear to be very prevalent in those jungles. 

127. At Chittora Chowkee, 7 miles from the well on the road, near Dunwahi, there is a Police out-post with a small village round it. Here I learned the following- circumstances : — On the 23rd of May two Gonds belonging to Mundla. returning from Jubbulpore, arrived at the station ; both had been attacked with cholera on the road; — one died at the station; the other, fueling a little better, went on his way next morning ; he, however, only reached the well at Dunwani, to die there. The death being reported at the Police post, the next morning, the 25th, the Havildar with a Constable went to bury the body; to assist them they summoned help from the village of Dunwahi, and a Bhoey and two Gonds came. At the village they said nothing to me about the body on the road ; and, as cholera had not previously appeared anywhere near, they probably attributed no importance to the fact ; they evidently considered that the cholera was due to the fish eaten by the woman who died first. The Bhoey and two Gonds that died on the second day of the out-break were probably those that assisted in burying the body. Neither the Head Constable or the Constable suffered in any way. At Chittora Chowkee the people draw water from the Hingnee river, from a long deep pool 300 yards from the village; the bank is not free from pollution ; but in May there had been no rain to wash foul matter into the river. A month later, in July, a brother of the Head Constable died of cholera, ; and two or thres cases occurred among the inhabitants of the cluster of huts round the Chowkee. 

128. From the tract of hill and forest of the Mundla district the road descends into a more open part of the trap formation, extending from the border of the Mundla district to the cantonment of Jubbulpore, a distance of 10 miles. It is traversed by the Gour river, which joins the Nerbudda 7 miles below the town of Burrailla. The general character of the country is hilly and undulating; but in the immediate neighborhood of Burrailla it is a level plain of blacksoil overlying basalt. Of 413 villages in the Huzoor tehseel of the Jubbulpore district about one-fifth are contained in this tract of country, and a large* proportion were attacked with cholera. Of 106 villages in the sub-division from which deaths from cholera were reported, 36 were in this south eastern portion. The greater number of these villages Avere attacked in the latter part of June and early iia July. They derive their water-supply from surface wells, and from small streams running into the Gour river ; few are very near the Gour itself. Jn some of the larger villages there are deep wells sunk through the clay into the rock; but they contain a very scanty supply of water in the hot weather. 

129. The town of Burrailla was the first place attacked in this locality; it is situated in an open plain on blacksoil overlying trap rock ; the population is returned as 2,340; the town was remarkably clean, and not greatly crowded. When cholera broke out at Goareeghat in the middle of May, it was attempted to ward off the disease by stopping communication with other places ; for this purpose a sentry was posted on the Mundla and Jubbulpore road, at the point where the road to Burrailla turns off. Cholera, however, made its appearance on the 27th May. The first known ease was that of a girl 12 years of age, a Kayet's daughter; the 2nd, two days afterwards, in a different part of the town. In a 1 124 cteaths occurred — 6 men, 4 women, 4 boys, and 10 girls; all castes suffered in like 



36 

Water-supply chiefly from wells, of which there are a great number ; several are now (January) dry that had water in them last year. Thaffe is also a. large tank ; it is almost dry now, but last hot weather the water waa nearly up t9 the bund on the town side ; in this tank the people bathe and wash clothes, aaid also wash their dall and rice. Of the wells now in use, — No. 1 nearly dry, 1 4 feet deep, a little water in one corner, no coping. No. 2 is 400 yards from village, lined, but no coping, and ground sloping towards well ; water now 9 feet from surface, in the rains it rises to 1 1 foot of the surface. No. 3. niuch used, on upper side of tank, bore 15 feet through soil and trap rook ; X inches of water; it now contains frogs and injects and is dirty, but the people say the water it 

sweet. N T o. 4, a well near the bazaar, which is a little separate from the town, a large brick well, but without coping, and water flows back from the surface ; it contains 2 feet of water at a level of 29 feet from the surface; in the rains the 1 water rises to 6 feet from the surface; this well is used entirely by the peopleliving in the bazaar, and'among them there was no cholera. Well No. 5 has a brick lining, bat is without coping, and fe great reflux of waste water from the surface; the bore is 20 feet thnmgi clay and hard basalt. This well is in gr-3at favour, the water bsin^ considered especially soft and sweet, and even remedial in fever and other diseases. A fair quantity of water collects in the rains, but it does not remain ; and throughout the greater part of the year what collects in the night is drained dry every morning. When I inspected it in January the water was visible issuing from under the clay and trickling in a small stream across the rock. Of those that died of cholera 10 lived in the mohulla near this well. 

1 30. Peepuria, — a small village, with a population returned at 1 1 4, and a miled'istant from Burrailla, on trap. Cholera broke out on the 3rd June, and 2$ deaths occurred in one and -a half month. In the first case, a Go-nd returned ill froixi JubbuL. pore, and died iv two days ; no cases followed im mediately; und the villagers were hoping that the danger had passed by, tor in a former epidemic -they had suffered severely; but four days alter the death of the Gond, a brahmin who had been to. the jungle to fetch wood, returned ill; after this it brake out all Over the village ; all castes suffered equally. There are a good many Brahmins in the village, and the rest are Biinniahs, Aheers, and G-onds; three or four only that were attacked' recovered. Water-supply, a kutcha Baolee, or weil with the ground sloped a>way all round it, not faced all round, but stone steps lead dawn to the water le> el ot* one side ; the water was very dirty, and the depth of water and mud in January was 3 feet; in the hot weathei* it was half this depth. 

Peepuria Chota, — a smaller village jof a mile distant; Na cholera/. Watersupply from a small nullah j in the hot weather when, that gets dry they di^ jieerahs in the bed;. 

131. Saleewarra, — one mile from Peepuria; population returned afc 383. "Deaths I& ; the first case was a girl of the goatherd caste, taken ill in the village : the next a goatherd aged 50. Four days after the first, 18 deaths occurred— -6 men, 5 women, 2 boy^, and $ girls. The disease continued 28 days. The 3ource of watersupply is a well 18 feet deep, with 3 feet of water; it contained frogs and insects, and bubbles of aif covered the surface ; it was fairly clean- when drawn, but deposited a flaky sediment. The bodies were thrown into the Gour river. IT * 

I*3s. Ktittengfoat,, — on a high trap rock, rising precipitously above the Gour mwer; population I Hi. Deaths 26; first case, a Russooriri) who came- from Tilhereeamh, and died in about W hours; the second case, a Lodin, taken ill the day after tftie Bussoorin died ; ; after this 3to 6 died daily. The disease lasted : 15 days* N<* SHelfeness before cholera broke oufc. Of the deaths, 9 were men, 5 women, ft- boys; and & girta The water-supply is derived from the river, a pool iv the Gour river nearly » mite ia> lteagth> dtgep on; opposite suite;, but shallow where they draw wafer. Th# 



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bodies of those that died at Saleewarra were thrown into the pool above that from which the villages of Kattea draw water. 3 deaths from cholera were reported from Saleewarra on the Ist July, on the 4th 7, on the 6th 6. The disease then appeared to have ceased. The fust deaths from cholera at Kuttea were reported on the Bth. 

Ghoorayahghat, — water-supply from a well and from the river, the other end of the pool under Kutteaghat. No cholera ; population about 80. 

1 33. Puruswarra, — about 1^ mile on right of road, situated among ravines; a stream running below the village, from which the people drink. 1 7 deaths occurred out of a population of 164; the first case was reported on the I.2th June. 

J hin tin ara, — adjoining the last. 15 deaths; population 254; same condition of water-supply. 

Tilheree, — population 75; a mile higher up the same stream, the water of which the people chiefly drink; there is a large well, but it does not appear to be much used (there was a dead turtle floating in it) ; 8 deaths occurred about the 20th June. 

Bilheree, — -a small collection of huts on the same stream, a mile from the European barracks, and occupied by camp followers; the number is said to have been 15. bi deaths occurred. This stream drains the swamp to the east of the cantonment, and is much fouled by elephants and cattle brought here to water. 

Kutteaghat, and all the villages last mentioned, are within two or three miles of Jubbulpore cantonment, but still in the trap formation, which in this direction extends as far as the European hospital, and there meets the Jubbulpore beds of sandstone. 

134. To the north-east the trap extends over the tract of country included within the Koondum Police circle, the principal features of which resemble those of Burgee and Lucknadown. Throughout it presents a succession of hill and valley, and is everywhere intersected by innumerable streams. It is traversed along its southern border by the Gour, and to the east by the Mahanuddee ; the Hirun and the Pureyat have their sources in the hills that form the central portion of the tract. 212 villages in this tract of country report to the Station-house at Koondum; they are chiefly small, and are scattered over a wide area. From 30 of these villages deaths from cholera were reported ; and, as in the other parts ot the trap formation, in many of the villages attacked the mortality was very great. Sudaphul, with a population of 360, lost 31 in a little more than a week; at Suckra 16 died out of 103; and at Halka 19 out of 105. To the north of the circle is a narrow valley, watered by the sources of the Hirun, and there the villages of Kachurgaon, Mehaie, and Khummureah, suffered severely in the end of July and in August. 

135. Bordering the trap formation, and intervening between it and the granite rocks that extend from near the Nerbudda at Lumeitaghat for 20 miles in a north-easterly direction, are the Jubbulpore beds of sandstone; and on ground near the south-western extremity of these beds, and closely abutting in the trap, lies the cantonment of Jubbulpore. The site occupied by the barracks and regimental bazaar is formed of a bed of loose sandy soil overlying a stratum of impermeable white clay. In the hot weather the sub-soil water lies at from 16 to 20 feet from the surface, but in the rains it rises nearly level with the surface of the ground; and, owing to the imperfect drainage of the locality, subsoil water is long retained near the surface. 

1 36. In former epidemics of cholera the cantonment is said to have escaped, and in that of last year it did not suffer to any great extent. Cholera first broke out in a body of work-people employed on the drainage works of the swampy 



38 

ground below the barracks, and who were hutted near tho stream or mail) drainage cut, which was much fouled. They were attacked on the 15th May, 10 cases and 3 deaths occurring within 48 hours; they were at once moved to a distance on the other side of the cut, and the disease ceased. The first case reported in the cantonment was that of a water-carrier of the Commissariat Department, on the 17th May; but it was afterwards stated that a case had occurred in the regimental bazaar on the 1 4th; between these dates and the 7th July, 32 cases and 15 deaths occurred in the cantonment; and of these, Incases and 7 deaths happened in the regimental bazaar. The total Native population of the cantonment is 12,050 ; that of the regimental bazaar is 339. The greatest number of cases of cholera occurred before rain-fall. The regimental bazaar is the portion of the cantonment that is nearest to the stream that drains the eastern swamp. Of the 32 cases that occurred in the cantonment, 2 were water-carriers, 2 were washermen, and 10 were sweepers — Dhers, and Chumars, — out-castes, that are not- permitted to draw water from wells used by other classes, and are consequently often driven to resort to casual and impure sources. 

137. The European Troops were attacked, but did not suffer to any great extent. The first case occurred in the workshop on 26th May; the next in the married quarters on the 3rd June. The married people suffered in much greater proportion than the others; their quarters are nearest to the regimental bazaar. It is a fact of much significance that a water-carrier was attacked with cholera in the regimental bazaar on the Ist June, and died on the 3rd, and that on the latter date the first case of cholera occurred in the quarters of the married soldiers. This year cholera has again visited the cantonment in common with the rest of the district, but the mortality has again been comparatively slight, the numberof deaths amounting to 39 only. 

138. Jubbulpore city lies under low hills of granite boulders; the soil is, sandy, and the sub-stratum a very porous moorum, formed of decomposed granite. The city is clean and well kept, and the surface drains at the sides of the principal streets are of good shape, and generally in good order; but the system of surface drainage is not complete throughout the city, — *in some parts refuse water is permitted to lodge, and here and there excremental matters appeared to have found their way into the surface drains from the houses. Public latrines are provided, and they are well looked after, but there is no service for cleaning the latrines of private houses either in the city or station; where this is nat done under systematic supervision there can be no certainty as to the disposal of the nio-htsoil. Cholera first appeared in the city on ths 17th May, and continued to prevail till the middle of August. In this interval 161 deaths were reported, or 4 per 1,000 of a population of 39,087. The greatest mortality took place in the. end of May and the early part of June. In Gurha, an old town, with a population of 5,580, two miles from Jubbulpore, on the Western road, which may be considered almost a suburb of Jubbulpore, and where the condition of soil, substrata, and water supply are the same, cholera appeared on the 25th May, and 17 deaths were reported in the course of the epidemic. This year (1869) cholera again appeared at Jubbulpore in the 2nd week in April, and continued to prevail till the middle of August, causing a mortality of 404 deaths, or 11 per 1,000 of the population. The greatest mortality occurred in the first three weeks of May. In Gurha the disease appeared this year in the 4th week of April ; and in the course of that and the three following weeks 90 deaths occurred, or 17 per 1,000 of the population. The water-supply of both Gurha and Jubbulpore is derived solely from wells; there are large tanks close to each place, but they were drained dry for the purpose of cleaning them in the hot weather of 18fi8, anc( there had been no rain to fill them again; the wells are numerous, and are generally in good order. In the city of Jubbulpore in the hot weather the water lies at from 14 to 18 feet below the surface of the ground ; in the rains it rises close to the surface. Gurha is more directly under the granite hills, and the ground 



39 

slopes considerably from it, hence the wells are deeper. T measured many of them in January, and even then several that were 40 and 45 feet deep were ii early dry; in the rains, however, the water rises close to the surface. The water of the wells in this formation varies, — in some it is sweet and soft, in others it is slightly brackish and rather hard. The people of the city resort much to certain wells at a little distance in the sandstone, where the water is soft and very good tor cooking purposes. In all these wells, however, the water runs low towards the end of the hot weather; and this year, owing to the scanty rain-fall of last year, there has been great distress. On the 1 4th May, when cholera was at its worst, Dr. Rice, in reply to enquiries on the subject, writes as follows :—": — " Cholera seems to attack equally every mohulla in the city, and the whole of Gurha and Goruckpore. The people in all three places drink well water; not one in twenty of these wells contains over two feet of water. All the 'lawaris' wells and almost all private ones, have been deepened more or less, some to the extent of ten feet; but no marked increase of water has resulted. In some the little there was before dried up before the process of deepening was completed, — the result of time, though the people are inclined to look upon it as a consequence of deepening. I apprehend the next water bearing stratum is very deep below the surface," 

" The water is generally sweet to the taste and smell, but very muddy. 1 can form no estimate of the average number of people resorting to any one well, nor can I find anyone who can even guess at it. There is no doubt the people are reduced to great straits for water." 

(t I have asked to have the temporary wells in the bed of the Hanooman talao filled up, except two. 1 had already asked the Deputy Commissioner to prevent people using this water, which is foul and ill-smelling; in most of the "jhiriyas" there is a scum on the surface. The two that I have excepted, though very muddy, like the rinsings of a milk jug, are sweet to the taste and free from smell. 1 should be far from considering even this water wholesome, but in the present great scarcity one must risk something until an abundant water-supply is obtained." 

" There are 144 wells in and about Gurha ; 3 have over three feet of water ; all the rest about a foot or a small pool in the bottom; they have been deepened, but the results are no more favourable than in Jubbulpore itself. There are 8 wells in Goruckpore of the same character ; one holds 3 feet, and another li foot of tolerably clear, sweet water ; the inhabitants all use these. There has Tbeen no cholera for some time," 

" There are only 1 or 2 cases daily in Gurha, and 11 to 14 in the city. No tank water is U3ed, because the tanks are all dry, except Ranee Tal and two tanks near Gurha — one named Golooah Tal — which, however, are too remote to be resorted to." 

139. In Jubbulpore in 18G8 the greatest mortality occurred in the weeks ending the sth and 12th of June; on the Bth, 9th, and 10th, 6 inches of rain fell, and the prevalence of the disease greatly diminished. In the present year the greatest mortality occurred in the week ending 15th May; it then declined; no rain fell till the middle of June. In Gurha the epidemic bad entirely ceased by the end /* Tfc * 

Goruokpore is a village on the main road, a mile south of the city, and west of the cantonment, almost within the boundaries of both; the soil is sandy, and sandstone rocks crop up in the village, and the water-supply is from wells. In January the water was 30 feet below the surface of the ground, but it rises level With the surface in the rains; the population was 981 in 1866. In 186S not 3 



40 

single case of cholera occurred till the sth August, when the disease had almost ceased everywhere else ; then 18 deaths took place in a few days. In the present year it broke out as early as the 1-ith April, and between this date and the 15th May 28 deaths occurred. 

140. To the west and north-west of Jubbulpore the country opens out into 1 a rich alluvial plain; to the north the granite rocks extend in a narrow linebetween the sandstone that borders Sonepore pergunnah and the Lumeta hills (metamorphic), that lie to the east of Punagurh. The soil is everywhere light and sandy ; the smaller streams are dry in the hot weather, and the villages depend chiefly on wells ; these, however, run very low in the hot weather, and water becomes scarce. In this tract of country cholera did not attack Very many villages, but a few suffered severely. 

141. Kichai, — a village with a population of 630. 5 miles north of Jubbulpore, close to the line of railway ; situated immediately under a boulder hill; the soil a fine sandy grit ; the houses greatly crowded together. A well quite under ther hill, and a little distance from the village, forms the sole source of water-supply ;¦ it is sunk 26 feet through the sandy soil, a granite boulder forming the botrom. In December last the bottom of the well was visible, there being only a few inches of water in one corner; the people said it was in the same condition when cholera broke out. In the rainy season of ordinary years the water rises to within three or four feet of the surface of the ground, but it soon runs low. Last year there was scarcely any rise in the level of the water ; there was no coping round the mouth, and all water s-plashed on the surface would fall back into the well. Cholera broke out on the 20th .June, and prevailed for a month, and in that period 53 deaths were reported. The first person attacked was a, woman, — a mat-maker, who had not left the village for many days previously ; the next,-another woman living in the house adjoining. When asked the question, one man said the bodies of those who died were thrown into the Pureyat, which is about two miles distant; the other, however, denied this. 

1 42. The Pureyat river rises in the trap hills of Koondum, traverses the Sonepore pergunnah, and after crossing the Northern road, 7 miles north of Jubbulpore, takes a northerly course through the alluvial plain, and joins the 1 Hirun below Tndrana. It is confined in a narrow channel between high banks of alluvial clay; the bottom is sandy ; the stream was not much more than ankle deep in the cold weather; but it has long pools, some of which are of considerable depth, others are shallow and much choked with weed. 

143. In the alluvial plain most of the villages have wells ;in the sandy tract of country they more commonly depend on the river, and these last suffered more or less from cholera. At Mutamur,- — a small village with a population of 125, on the right bank of the Pureyat, 2 deaths from cholera occurred on the 18 th June, and 7 others were reported between that date and the 28th, — 9 in all, or 7 per cent of the population. The first case was that of a man who had returned from Burrailla two days before he was attacked; the next case a Gond, who was taken ill the day the first case died ; it then spread over the villao-e. The dead bodies were thrown into a long deep pool above the village. On the other side of the stream, a few yards higher up, is the village of Burgowan; the bank on which it stands rises 50 or 60 feet above the stream. The soil is very light and poor, and covered only with a stunted jungle. 12 deaths from cholera were reported from this village on the 25th June, 1 on the 7th July, and 12 on,, the 13th July, — 25 in all ; the natives say they lost 28, or 13 per cent of the population in from 15 to 20 days. The first person attacked was a dhobee, who recovered ; a day or two afterwards a boy was attacked, and died; it then spread over the village. The part of the river where the people of Burgowan draw water is a long, still pool, extending a mile or more above the village, and the place at which they drew water was very foul. In this pool also were thrown the bodies 



41 

of all that died both in Muttamur and Burgowa. The Muttamur people draw their water from the rapid below, which was then nearly knee deep. The people said the river had been flooded once that season, but there had been no rain for some days previous to the out-break of cholera. 

144. The nearest village down, the stream, and depending for water on it, jig Mehgaon, with a population of 149. Cholera broke out here on the 29th June, and !) deaths occurred. Tlje first person attacked was a woman, who had not left the village previously. The current of the river where they draw w T ater is rapid, fin 4 the ground rocky. 

At Imullesa, a village a little lower down, on the other side of the stream, the people draw water chiefly from a good w&\\. Two deaths from cholera were reported in July. 

From four to six miles further down the stream the villages of Sarope, Peepuria, .M.unneara, and GooFgaon, all suffered more or less from cholera. 

!4">, North of the Pureyat, towards Punagurh, very few villages were Attacked ; the soil is a sandy alluvium, the underlying rock metamorphic. The water supply is drawn from wells or from large tanks. The wells are deep, the water j,n the dry season lying at 35 to 40 feet from the surface of the ground. 

Kusli — a village a mile from Muttamur; water-supply from a well 38 feet deep No cholera. 

Nepunniah,— a village two miles from Muttamur, under the Lumeta hills; population 169 ; soil, a sandy alluvium; water-supply from one well only. 36 feet deep, but containing a scinty supply of water in January. In the rains the water is said to rise to within 10 or 12 feet of the surface of the ground. Thirty feet from the well is a ditch, which in the rains would have several feet of water; it is the (Q union place of resort for the purposes of nature, and it is also much fouled by cattle ; the soil between the ditch and the well is very porous, and the people said that when the ditch filled the well rilled also. Cholera broke out here in the end of July, and 28 deaths (17 per cent of the population) occurred in a few days. The first person attacked was a man, who had returned from Burgowan a day or two previously; the next case was the map's mother. 

Pururria, — abxit 100 yards from Nepunniah, separated from it b} r a large grove of mango trees ; population 157. There are three wells, but one outside the village > was used the most; this was 2.4 feet deep in January; it had very little water, but the people said that when cholera prevailed it contained more than 5 feet. The well was without coping and the water foul. Eight deaths from cholera occurred here, — 3 in one house, 5 were children. 

Bhurda, — a village half a mile from Pururria and Nepunniah, and a mile from Punagurh, situated under the bund of a large tanls, the water of which the people drink. No cholera. 

]46. Punagurh, — a town with 4,300 inhabitants, 9 miles on the Northern road from Jubbulpore. There is a Police station, and a weekly market is held. The soil is sandy, but fertile, overlying a red gravel. The water-supply is drawn entirely from wells, of which there are many. Some of these were nearly dry in January, owing to the scanty rain of the previous season; but others are very deep, and have an abundant supply of water. Cholera visited this town very slightly, only 2 deaths in June appear in the returns, furnished me; but on enquiry from the Police there, I found 2 deaths had occurred in July and 5 in August— 9 altogether, or 2 per 1,000 of the population. 



42 

147. The Northern road from Jubbulpore to Mirzap^re and the North- West traverses the Jubbulpore district for upwards ot 60 miles, running parallel wit!) the railway. The great traffic of former years is of course a good deal taken off by the railway ; it is, however, still very considerable, and the road is the chief means of communication between the Sudder town and the towns and villages in< the northern divisions of the district; the villages and towns arc numerous along its whole length, bat not above three or four suffered from cholera, and these very slightly. The water supply is chiefly from wells, but in some places it v derived from large tanks. From Punagurh to Gosulpore the road lies over a flat country, much of which is waste, the upper formation being hard latente: wide (opes of large mango trees, however, frequently occur, and forma marked feature of the landscape. 

148. Boragurh, — 5 miles from Punagurh, on the road, situated on a hillock, of laterite overlying a yellow clay ; the population is now 700, but at one timeit was large; there are consequently many ruined huts and waste places covered with jungle, and the village is altogether dirty and untidy. To the west there is a large lake several miles in circumference. The side of the mound on which the village is built slopes down to the lake, is covered with jungle and rank vegetation, and is. the common place of report for the purposes of nature; the lake at the part has a shallow shelving bank, and the people wash and bathe and draw their drinking water from the same part. Krom 2.5 to 3 ( J deaths from cholera occurred here in June and July. 

At Hirunuggur, a village on the same formation, a mile distant on the other side of the bank, there was no cholera. !he villagers get their water from wells, of which there are several. In a well in low ground the level of the water was 45 feet from the surface; it was said to rise to 8 fc~*t in average rains. 

Deonuggur, — on laterite ; water-supply from a well in low ground below the village, in which the water-level in January was 18 feet below the surface of the ground; it is said to rise to 2^ feet from the surface in the rains. This village is close to the lower border of the Boragurh lake, and the sub-soil water would rise and fall with the lake. The surface drainage of the village would not fall into the lake. There was no cholera. 

149. Kail was, — a village on the slope of a laterite hill, 2^ miles east of Boragurh ; population about 200. Cholera broke out in July, and 11 deaths occurred in from ten to fifteen days, among them the Malofoozar's son. The first person attacked was a weaver, who, as far as is known, had not left the village previously. The water-supply is drawn from a well 33 feet deep, but the supply was scant}r. There is a stream, the Kardye, about half a mile distant, where the people resort for washing, but the people said they did not drink the Avater, it is a sluggish stream, and the water is muddy. The villages of Moorurea and Goorda, higher up the stream, and Khiriene, lower down, suffered rather severely in 

150. Dhunuripore, — a large village in a basin surrounded by laterite and metamorpic hills ; the soil stony and sandy. About 200 yards from the village there is a lnrge tank; the people, however, draw their water from wells near the village. Jn one well, the bore of which was through metamorphic rock, the water was abundant at 12 feet from the surface; in the rains it rises close to the level of the ground. In another well, sunk in yellow clay, the water was scanty at 23 feet from the surface. There was no cholera. 

151. Gosulpore, — a large village, with a population of 1,044, traversed by the main road, is clean and well kept. The water-supply is derived mainly from a arge tank faced on all sides with stone masonry; the catchment area of this 



43 

tank is unoccupied, and not liable to pollution. In a well in the village, the bore of which was through laterite, the water was 32 feet from the surface and the supply scanty. There was no cholera. 

1 52. Beyond Gosulpore the road enters upon an alluvial plain, traversed by the Hirun river ; the soil is a rich alluvium, in many parts bearing 1 two crops yearly. — one of rice in the rainy season, and wheat and gram in the cold weather. The water-supply is derived from wells, or from the Hirun, and other smaller streams that flow into it. Near the greater number of the villages there is a lanre tank. Cholera was more frequent in the villages in this tract of country than around Punagurh and Gosulpore, but it was chiefly confined to the villages dependent for water on the Hirun and the Hagni. 

153. The Hagni is a very sluggish stream, which, after a course of about 8 miles, falls into the Hirun, where the latter is crossed by the railway. Several villages along this stream suffered. 

Bhoodooa, a village on this stream, with a population of 420, lost 18 from cholera early in June. The first case was a Lodi's child ; the brother had been to Hursingha, a village adjoining Jingrahi (para. 155) ; he, however, showed no signs of sickness on his return or afterwards; another child died in the same house. There is a well a little distance from the village, the water in which was 21 feet from the surface. The better class of people draw water from this well, but the villagers generally from the stream; ihis is here a long stagnant reach, much c-'ioked with weed and shaded with trees Phoonawanee and Khummurea, small villages higher up the stream, suffered in the same proportion. Kbaganow, a village lower down the stream, lost 5 out of a population of 107, in August. The Barnoo river, two miles from the Hagt.i, is a cloar running stream with a sandy bottom; on this stream the town of Rumkeria and the villages of Algora, Oomurria, and tvhetowra were inspected. None had been visited by cholera. In Kumketia there is a large number of wells which the people use, but the other villages depend on the stream. 

Burraillie, — a small village on the Hirun ; water-supply for drinking from a well 45 feet deep; for washing, &c, the villagers resort to the Hirun. 4 deaths from cholera. 

Ghatsummurea,---a large village on the main road, near where it crosses the Hirun; water-supply from a well 42 feet deep. No cholera. 

154. Gurchapra, — a village on the bank of the Hirun, on which the people depend solely for water. A Bharat numbering about 500 persons arrived at this village on or about the Ist June from Jinghrai, about li mile distant; on the day after they arrived, cholera broke out. No cholera had been heard of anywhere in the neighbourhood previously, but many fakeers and beggars had come from Jubbulpore and elsewhere. The first person attacked was a Dheemur woman, who had nothing to do with the Bharat; it, however, soon attacked the Bharatees, who then dispersed ; 9 persons belonging to the village died, out of a population of 132. The first death was reported at the Police station at Sehora on the 4th June. The bodies of those who died were thrown into the river in a large pool some distance above the village. The villagers said no rain had fallen when cholera broke out, but the river was flooded a day or so afterwards. A fall of one inch of rain Cthe first fall of the season) was registered at Jubbulpore on the 3rd June, and the same at Sleemanabad, north of the Hirun, on the 4th ; and this tall appears to have been general over the district, and there was heavy rain again a few days subsequently. 



44 

At Negwanee, a village a few hundred yards below Gurchapra. a death from cholera was also reported on the 4th June ; but only 4 deaths, out of a population of 348, were reported. 

155. Jinghrai is on alluvial soil, about 1^ mile north of the Hh'un;tli« water-supply is derived from wells and from a large tank near the village; the level of the water in the well is 39 feet from the surface. Three Bharatees recurned sick from Gurchapra, and died the next day ; those that were attacked during the next day or two had also accompanied the Bharat. Altogether 22 persons died in about 8 days. Population was 42D. 

156. Joonwanee, — a village about two miles from Jingrahi; water supply from wells and from a large tank ; the water in the well was 29 feefe from the surface. The first case of cholera was that of a man who had joined the Bharat from Jingrahi ; he was taken ill at Gurchapra, and died the next day after his return : 8 other persons were living in the same house, but none were attacked, and there was no other case for ten days; then a youth and a child in a house in a different part of the village were attacked and died. Several cases followed in different parts of the village, and altogether 1 1 deaths occurred. The population is returned at 604. Persons from many other villages joined the Bharat at Jingrahi, and from the 4th to the Bth June deaths from cholera were reported from 12 villages within a radius of 6 miles, but in those only aboyementioned did any great mortality occur. 

157. Sehora is the central town of this tract of country ; it is the Tehseel station, and has a weekly market, attended from all the villages round; it is also traversed by the Mirzapore road. It is situated clcss to. low laterite and metamorphic hills, and there are several large tanks close to it; these tanks, however, are above the level of the greater part of the town, and do not receive its, surface drainage. The water supply is derived chiefly from wells, though no doubt many of the poorer classes resort to the tanks. The level of the water in a well sunk in laterite above the level of the tanks was 40 feet below the surface; h\ wells in the town below the tanks it was 1 9 feet below the surface of the ground in December. Iho people said that in ordinary seasons it is higher, and that in, the rains it commonly rises level with the surface of the ground, and that the plain is under water for some distance. 

Sehora has the reputation of being the most feverish locality in the district, fever continuing prevalent there long after it has declined in other parts. The officials suffered so much from fever that it has been proposed to move the headquarters of the tehseel, for at least a portion of the year, to another locality. Only two cases of cholera occurred here in I^6B (in July), and this year the town, has again experienced an almost equal degree of immuni'y. Several villages in the immediate vicinity of Sehora suffered severely. 

158. Khorawal, — two miles north of Sehora, situated on rising ground; the soil alight alluvium over laterite; the population 648, chiefly Cachees, gardeners and cowherds. The majority of the villages in the Jubbulpore district are greatly crowded, but this one was exceptionally so. It did not occupy more than three acres of ground; there was no entrance or street by which it was possible to ride into the village; it was simply a congeries of huts, with very narrow alleys between the blocks, the roofs of the huts almost meeting over head. The villagers are chiefly occupied in grazing cattle, and these ars kept in the houses at night, from 2 to Borlo in each house. Cholera was first reported on the 7th July; it is said to have prevailed 20 days., and in that period 19 deaths occurred. The first person attacked was a Cachi, who had not left the village for some days previously; his house was in the middle of the village, occupied by himself, his and 3 children, and at night, 5 animals. The area of the hut was about 2Q 



45 

feet by 8; in the same court was another hut, occupied by 4 persons and 2 animals; the Cachi was the only one attacked ; 3 persons were attacked the sani€ day in different parts of the village, and all died in from 12 to 24 hours. The 19 deaths occurred in 19 houses, inhabited by 79 persons, or rather more than 4 persons to a house. There were 6 others attacked, who recovered; but in only one house were 2 persons attacked, and both these recovered. The water-supply is derived from wells, of which there are several. The well most used was 23 feet deep, and had a scanty supply in December; apparently all the deaths occurred in families using this well. On the opposite side of the village, the people using a different well, no deaths occurred ; this part of the village was also less crowded. 

159. Dursunee, — a village one mile from Khurawul, situated on laterite, untidy and dirty, but not overcrowded. There is a large tank on the west side, below the village, the slope towards the tank being much fouled. There are wells in the village, the water of which is commonly used for drinking, but the tank water is used for cooking and washing. The water in the wells is scanty, and it is probable that a large proportion of the people used the tank water for all purposes. ChoUra prevailed in August, and 25 persons died; the population is 415. Of those that died, 3 were men, 6 women, 10 boys, and 6 girls. 

160. Gaora, — situated on metamorphic rock uncovered by soil, close under a hill ; jungle and waste all around; population 817, chiefly cowherds Village very confined and dirty; water-supply from a well at a little distance from the village, and a tank nearer the village; the well is in lower ground than the village; the water was 1 7 feet from the surface. The appearance of cholera was first reported on the 13th July, and 15 deaths occurred. The first person attacked was a woman, who had not left the village for some time. Of those that died, 5 were women, 6 girls, and 4 boys. 

161. Dhinara-Khummureah, — a mile east of Gaora; a stagnant nullah lying between them, to which the people of both villages resort for watering cattle. The population of Dhinara-Khummureah is 1 1 5. A death from cholera was reported on the Bth June, — the son of a Gond, who had been with his father to Jinghrai and returned ill ; no more cases occurred at that time. Some weeks afterwards a cowherd's t>on came across a. party burying the body of a person who had died of cholera at Gaoia ; he saw the body about 1 p.m., was attacked with vomiting and purging about 4, and died the following morning ; a woman of the same caste, who also saw the body, was taken ill the sama evening, and died three days afterwards. In the house where the boy lived there were 5 other persons living, and in the same small court 10 more ; in the woman's house also there were 3 persons living ; none of them were attacked, nor did any other case occur in the village. Cholera was thus brought twice into this village, but it did not spread. The water-supply is derived solely from wells ; there is a tank near the village, but it was nearly dry at the time, and the people do not use it. There are two wells, the water in which is 16 feet from the surface; the water of one is slightly brackish, and is used solely for washing. 

At Burgee, a large village on the main road, with its water-supply solely from wells, there was no cholera. 

162. The alluvial plain to the west of Sehora, bounded on the south by the Hirun river, on the north by the low hills of the Bilheri pergunnah, and on the west by the Sohar river, is one of the most fertile portions of the district; the soil is a rich alluvium, bearing two crops yearly. The villages are numerous and they are generally very crowded, the houses being closely packed together on small hillocks that rise here and there out of the plain. The water-supply is chiefly derived from wells, but nearly every village has a tank near it; the wells are sunk in deep soil and clay ; and the depth of water from the surface varies from 25 to 40 feet in the dry season, rising 15 to 20 feet higher in the rains. Along the 



46 

banks of the Hirun nearly every village suffered more or less, and these will be referred to subsequently; but of the villages in the plain away from the river not many were visited, and few suffered severely. The villages of Jinghrai and Joonawanee, in this tract of country, have already been described in connection with the outbreak of cholera in the Bharat at Gurchapra. The village of Lumkamea lost 1 1 persons in June ; the village of Moreit, near the junction of the Sohar with the Hirun, lost 24 in the end of June and July. At Ronjha, a village on the road between Sehora and Mujhowlee, with a population of 150, 8 deaths occurred in Juiy, all women and children. The village is built on the border of a tank. 

At Pondee, the village nearest to Ronjha, the tank is quite away from the village, at a distance of 800 yards. Here there was no cholera. 

163. Beyond the Sohar river the road fora mile or so passes between hills, and then again opens out into an alluvial plain, lying between the Bignoa hills and the Kymore range to the north and east, and a block of metamorphic hills to the south. The town of Mujhowlee is the chief place in this plain; it has a population of 2,300; there is a Police station (or out-post) at Sehora ; and a bazaar is held weekly, where from 2,000 to 3,000 people come in from the surrounding villages ; it is built on metamorphic rock uncovered by soil, with good drainage on ali sides. The town had been extremely dirty, but the Deputy Commissioner, Major Playfair, had visited it a day or two before I arrived, and I found it in coarse of being cleaned. There are many wells in the town, but most were without coping, many were very foul; and the water was generally scanty. Along the western side of the town, and receiving the surface drainage of the great er part of it, is a tank of large extent; the people say they do not use the tank water for drinking, but it is much used for soaking dall and rice before boiling. All classes resort to the tank for washing clothes and bathing, and it is most probable that the poorer classes at least use it for all purposes. Cholera was first reported from this place on the 12th July. The first case was that of a Cachi, who returned from Moral (para. 191) sick; he recovered, but 5 out of 6 persons living in the same house were attacked and died; it then spread in the town, and 80 persons died. The mortality was chiefly among the lower castes of Cachees, Koshtees, and Dheemurs. A portion of the town furthest from the tank, and occupied almost entirely by Kyuths, escaped altogether. 

164. From the villages in this part of the district no reports of cholera were sent in, but it happened to be bazaar day when 1 was at Mujhowlee, and the Kotwals of all the villages that report to the Police out-post were present ;from them I gathered that out of 85 villages that report to the out-post, 11 had been visited by cholera ; of these, 1 was on the Hirun, 4 on the Sohar, and 3 on the Kyr river. 

The Malgoozar of the next village had established quarantine, and had allowed no communication with Mujhowlee during the prevalence of cholera, and his village escaped. The sole source of water-supply for the village was a large tank, a quarter of a mile distant. 

165. The Kyr river rises in the western side of the Kymore range, and after passing through the hills by a sharp cutting, called the 'Khatao,' taking its course close under the eastern face of the range, joins the Hirun, a short distance above the town of Kuttunghee. It runs for the most part in a narrow channel between steep banks, but here and there it forms wide rocky pools, which are separate from the main stream, and nearly stagnant; the bank is chiefly covered with stunted jungle, and much intersected by ravines. 

Raneetall, — a scattered village at the Khatao ; the bank is steep, and covered with jungle ; the water-supply solely from the stream, which here forms stagnant pools among the rocks; the bed of the stream much fouled both by people and cattle. 20 deaths from cholera occurred here. 



47 

/ 

In the village of Peepufia, close above Kaeatal, thare were 7 deaths. 

At Koosgaon, a mile lower down, 12 deaths occurred. These villages do not appear in the Police returns, and I cannot give the exact population, but they apparently vary from 200 to 500 persons, consisting chiefly of Gonds and Aheers, occupied in keeping cattle. 

Pavla, — a village on the Kyr, two miles above its junction with the Hirun; reports to the Kuttunghee station-house ; the population is returned at 44 1. There were 1 0 deaths from cholera. The first case waa a Gond living outside the village; he was attacked one evening, and died the next day ; there were 4 or 5 more people living in the same house, but none suffered. The same evening a woman living in the village was atiacked. The epidemic continued only four days. The first death was reported on the 10th August, and it is probable that the other villages in the locality were visited about the same time, or a little earlier. No register of rain-fall in this locality is kept, but the people say that scarcely any rain fell for the whole season. At Sehora, 15 miles distant, there were frequent showers, but no heavy fall of rain after the 22nd July. 

16G. South of Mujhowlee a road leads through hill and jungle for 8 miles to the town of In drana, on the Hirun. Dunwahi, a small village among the hills, and surrounded by jungle, lost 3 persons, — 2 women and a man, from cholera. The water-supply was from a well GO feet deep through laterite, with only 2 feet of water. The brick work was broken, and a number of pigeons were allowed to roost in it; two birds were sitting on their eggs when I examined the weii» 

Indrana, — an old town, the population of which is 2,100, situated close under hills, on the Hirun; the soil red laterite; water-supply partly from wells and partly from the river; the wells are 40 feet deep, but few had more than 1 foot of water. There were 45 deaths from cholera, chiefly among low castes, — Hungrez and Koshtees (dyers and weavers), whose occupation employs them much in the river. 

Mooraree,— a village near Tndrana, and on the Hirun; population about 250. Deaths from cholera 10 ; water-supply from two wells, and also from the river. 

167. This completes the inspection of the Sehora tehseel; it is of very wide extent, and includes tracts of country of which the physical characteristics vary greatly; and as the statistics of these different tracts cannot well be separated their value is much diminished. Out of 396 villages included within the circle $2 or 20 per cent were visited by cholera. The total population of these villages may be estimated at 24,504, of which 630 or 2*6 per cent died. From many of the villages, however, only one death was reported. Of the 82 villages visited by cholera, 2 7 were on the llirun and its affluents, — the Kyr, Sohar and Hagna. 

168. East of Sehora lies the pergunnah of Koombhi, covering an area of 613 square miles, and comprising 378 villages ; it is a roadless tract; the centre is all hill and jungle, intersected by numerous streams; there are, however, some open tracts of extensive area, as the valleys of the Mahanuddee and the Hirun. In the northern portion also some open and well cultivated tracts occur. The geological formation is chiefly metamorphic, and the soil sandy and poor. Several villages in the south-eastern portion of this pergunnah along the Hirun and one of its chief affluents, the Belowa, suffered late in July and August, and about the same time a few villages were attacked in the northern portion, in the open tract of country bordered by the Mahanuddee and Dutila rivers ; but the pergunnah altogether suffered slightly, reports of deaths from cholera having 



48 

169. North of Sehora is the pergunnah of Bilheree, with an area of 700 square miles, and comprising 340 villages. It is traversed along its eastern border by the Mizapore road; and its northern portion is crossed by the highroad that connects ttaugor and Dumoh with the main road and the railway. The geological formation of the south-eastern portion is metamorphic, overlaid by laterite, but the greater portion of the pergunnah is Vindhyan sandstone. The tract of country is described in the Settlement Keport as "a network of hills and low jungle, with alternate vales, glades, and plateaus, sometimes of the wildest, and sometimes of the most picturesque imagery; and sometimes, when alluvial deposits occur, despite the vicinity of frowning hills overhanging the valley, luxuriant with waving rubbee crops and poppy fields to the very edge of the hill side." The soil is everywhere light and sandy; the main drainage channel of the eastern portion is the river Kutna, which, rising in the hills of Koombhi, crosses the main road at Sleemanabad, and then flowing northwards in a semicircular course, again crosses the road at Moorwarra. It has a narrow channel confined between steep banks, and a bottom in some parts sandy, in others rocky; it is a rapid flowing stream, with a good current at all seasons of the year. There are many smaller streams that join the Kutna in its course, but the majority of these become dry in the hot weather. There are many villages on the banks of the Kutna depending on it solely for water, but the majority of the villages derive their supply from wells, of which there are generally two or three or more in each village; they are sunk in rock or laterite, and vary in depth from 30 to 4-0 feet; these are always protected by a wide chabootra, formed of the large slabs of stones which are everywhere abundant. Cholera scarcely visited this tract of country at all ; the towns of ISleemanabad and Moorwarra, on the main road, suffered to some extent; and Bilheree, 8 miles to west of the road, rather severely; but besides these, reports of deaths from cholera were received from 10 or 12 villages only. None of these however were on the main road; four were in a cluster by themselves, .0 miles to the west of Sleemanabad. 

1 70. Sleemanabad is on the main road, 40 miles from Jubbulpore; the population is 1,400. 'J he water-supply is drawn chiefly from wells, of which there are a great number; but a great proportion of the poorer classes drink water from the river; the depth of the wells varies from 18 to 20 feet, and none had more than 1^ foot of water in January. The people that use the river water draw it from either side of the bridge; below the bridge the stream is deep and rapid, above it is more still; the banks are everywhere foul. The first case of cholera occurred on the 3rd of June, the second on the 7th; both these persons were residents of the place; a third case did not occur till the 13th, but between that date and the 4th July 1 8 deaths were registered. All that died were persons of the poorer classes, living in one part of the town, and drawing water from the river. 

Hindoor, — a village about half a mile from Sleemanabad, with a population of 223, chiefly inhabited by Koles. There is a well in the village, but the water is used only by the few of the better caste that live there; the Koles all use the rirer water above the bridge; of these, 8 died in the early part of June. 

In the former epidemic, Sleemanabad, and the tract of country *in which it lies, have been but little affected. Once, when the bridge over the Kutna was under construction, cholera broke out severely among the work people employed, but even then the towns-people suffered only to a small extent. 

171. To Bilheree from Sleemanabad the distance is 12 miles; for the first four or five miles the road, or rather track, runs through jungle, then into an open plain stretching towards the Khymore range of hills, with laterite mounds or sandstone rock cropping up here and there, in this plain the villages are numej rous ; the soil is everywhere light and sandy; and owing to the scanty rain-falsie 



49 

crops .had everywhere failed. The country is but little intersected by streams, a(ii# sfche beds of those that 1 crossed (in January) were dry. The only plaoes that suffepsd in this line of country was Salia, — a village with a population of 347; here 7 deaths occurred in the end of July. The water-supply is derived from wells, and from a small stream; the wells were 40 feet in depth, sunk through laterite, but tho quantity of water was very scanty. Prior to the middle of July there had been no heavy fall cf rain in this part of the district, and the stream was dry. On the 18th and 19th nearly three inches of rain fell, and brought water to the stream, ¦which the people used. The first case of cholera occurred on, the 24th. The village of Ootumpore, half a mile further on, and the villages of Peepuria and Khummurea on the same line, were not visited by cholera. They were dependent entirely .on wells for water. 

172. 'Bilheree is a straggling town, with a population of 2, G00 ; once it was much larger. It is built on high ground, of which the formation is laterite, overlying sandstone. There are many wells of considerable depth, but the water they contain is rather hard ; and the people chiefly use the water of two large tanks, — one on either side of tjie town ; that on the east, is a large tank, faced on all sides with stone masonry ; that on the west has shallow shelving sides, and the people had to wade through 10 or 15 feet of mud to get into deep and clear water. Cholera broke out in the end of June ; the first death was a man who returned sick from Moorwarra ; the second case occurred the day after the arrival of the first. After this, two or three cases occurred daily; there were 44 deaths in about three weeks. Of those attacked, all but six drew their water from the tank on the western side of the town, 

1 73. From Bunkheira, a village three miles w T est of Bilheree, one death from cholera was reported in August; and at Mujgaon, five miles north, one death occurred in July ; but in no other village in the vicinity did cholera appear. From Bilheree to Moorwarra the distance is eleven miles ; and there is frequent traffiic between the two towns. There are several villages on the road, but in none had cholera appeared. Two villages tl*at I inspected depended on the Kutna for water ; the third had wells. 

174. Moorwarra is a town with 4,000 inhabitants; it is situated on the Kutna river, and the main road passes through it. The formation is laterite, overlying sandstone ; the water-supply is derived chiefly from wells, but many of the poorer classes drink water from the river ; the level of the water in the wells varies from 25 to 30 feet from the surface of the ground. The first case of cholera w,as that of a Naj. (barber caste), who returned sick from Sleemanabad on the 7th June ; between this date and the middle of July 23 deaths occurred. Those that died were chiefly Cachees and Koles, and all drank water from the 

; 175. Cholera appeared in a few villages in the neighbourhood of Moorwarra, but they were not attacked until much later in the season, — in the end of July, and in August and September. The water-supply in this tract of country in ordinary seasons is plentiful, and chiefly derived from wells, and well protected by stone coping. From the porous nature of tfye soil the smaller streams are dry in the hot .weather*. 

176. The perguijtnah of BijiragogurJ), in the extreme north-east corner of the district, was not visited by cholera till -the epidemic had almost ceased els 2where; it is for the most part a flat open ip&ct of country, traversed through its centre by a ra,nge of low hills; it is fcrayer§e4 by the Kutna and Mahanuddee rivers, and several smaller streams. T})e geplpgfcal formation is chiefly Rewah sandstone, and the soil is. ev^ry wher-p Jigjat an 4 sandy. Of 1 78 villages that report to the station-bouses .of Bijiragogurfr ans JJurhee, deaths from cholera. 



50 

were reported from 1 1 ; and these out-breaks took place between the 1 9th July and Gth September. r J here was no rain in thistracfc of country till the 18th July; on that and the following day 34 inches of rain fell. On the 21st cholera was reported from Deora Khar and Munuria, villages in different parts of the pergunnah, but both on roads leading from the main Northern road to the town of Bijiragoofurh, and both partly drawing their water-supply from large tanks. North of Bijiragogurh the epidemic did not spread. 

177 a. I now return to the country west of Jubbulpore, — a wide alluvial plain, 900 square miles in extent, and comprising 613 villages. It includes the Jubbulpore Havelee, the western portion of Punagurh, the pergunnah of Patun, and a portion of the pergunnah of Kuttunghee. It is bounded on the north by the Kindrye stream and the Hirun river; in the middle part of its course by the Nerbudda; on the south and on the east by the Bhanner range, which rises abruptly from the plain to an elevation varying from 1,500 to 2,000 feet, formingan almost straight and pi'ecipitous barrier from Kuttunghee to the Nerbudda. The soil of the whole of this tract of country is a deep alluvium ; it varies, however, considerably in value in different parts. In the central portion it is a rich black loam, but as the Hirun and Nerbudda are approached on either side, it becomes largely mixed with sand; and in the south-western corner of the tract, where these rivers converge, the country is very poor and cut up in all directions by ravines, and but little cultivated. 

17/6. The Purey at river crosses the northern portion of the tract, and the Hirun courses along its northern and western borders ; there are also three or four minor streams that cross the plain, and join the Hirun in different parts of its course. The villages that are situated along these rivers and streams depend on them for water, but the larger portion of the population derive their supply from wells or tanks. The depth of the wells varies greatly in different parts ; in some parts it ranges from 40 to 50 feet, but water is commonly found at from 1 20 to 30 feet from the surface. In the deeper wells there is but little variation in the depth of the water from the surface in different seasons ; in other parts there is a difference of about 6 feet between the level in the hot weather and. after the rains. At a large majority of the villages there is a tank, where the people wash clothes and bathe, and the water of which is in many instances used for cooking, and by the lower castes for drinking. These tanks are ordinarily very close to the village, they vary greatly in size, — some are small and are faced with masonry; others are ot considerable extent, and in these the Singhara nut is commonly cultivated. 

1 78. This part of the district is traversed by three roads, radiating from Jubbulpore. The southern leading to Nursingpore and the Nerbudda valley,, running parallel with the railroad ; the central to Saugor, by Patun and Rehlee, crossing the Hirun, and ascending the Bhanner range at Kohnee ; the northern taking a north-westerly direction to Dumoh and Saugor, crosses the Hirun at Kuttunghee, and turning the southern point of the Khymore range, crosses the Bhanner hills by Sewrampore and Jnbbura. Of 600 villages that occupy the area above described 163 or 27 per cent were visited hy cholera. From many only one death was reported ; others lost 10 to 18 per cent of their population. The mortality, however, was not so great as in other parts of the epidemic area. 

A very large proportion (6 1 out of 1 6.3) were situated alongthe Nerbudda, the Hirun, and Pureyat; and besides these, several others were dependent, wholly or in part, on the smaller streams for water; the remainder were scattered over the whole area, often at wide intervals. 

179. Although there is good reason for believing that the epidemic influence was conveyed to a distance by means of the traffic along the main road, the 



51 

knmunity of the villages along its course was remarkable. By the Nursino'pore road cholera was probably conveyed to Chindwara, 30 miles distant, by the 4th June, and to Nursingpore a few days later ; yet not more than three villao-esalong the road or railroad were visited by cholera, and from these no case was reported till the 29th June. After leaving Gurha the road enters upon almost the richest part of the alluvial plain ; the villages are well supplied with water from wells sunk in soil and clay, at a depth varying from 25 to 40 feet; and in this neighbourhood tanks are not so common as in other parts of the area. 

At Sahejpore, a large village on the railroad, on alluvial soil, with an abundant supply of water from wells, and with no other source of supply, there was" no cholera. 

At Shaipoora, o"n the main road, a large village and a Police station, there Was no cholera. The people derive their water from several wells, and have no other source of supply. 

At Kheira, a village close to the Shaipoorah encamping ground, a man suffering from cholera arrived on the i Oth July, and died the next day. No other cases followed in the village or in Kuttungheegunj, the bazaar along the side of the road. 

180. At Bhittone, a small village (population 94), on the road, a mile from Shaipoorah, 4 cases occurred. The first case was a Gond, who had been to Bhimtara, a village a mile distant, where cholera was prevalent ; he returned ill on the 22nd June, and died the next day ; his wife and child escaped. The next case was an old Gond, living in the next house to the first case ; he had been to Khuria. where he saw the man that had arrived there ill on the 10th July; he was taken ill immediately after his return home, and died the next day (July 1 lth); there were 7or 8 others living in the same house. The third case was a Gond woman, attacked 3 days after the death of the old man ; her brothers had assisted in carrying the body of the old man to the river, three miles distant. The fourth case, occurring 4 days after No. 3, was a Chumar woman, who had been to another village in the neighbourhood and returned ill, and died the following day. In the instance of this village, three out of the four that suffered from cholera had apparently contracted the disease elsewhere. The water-supply of this village is from a well only. 

]81. The village of Bhimkee has a population of 460 ; 7 deaths occurred. A woman that had come with a Bharat from the Seonee district was taken ill at Punuria (para. 192), was brought to Bhimkee sick, and died the third day after her arrival, (the 10th June) ; a Dheemur woman, who came with her, died the day previous. Four days after this, a girl in the same house was attacked and died ; afterwards several cases occurred. The sole water-supply of the village is a well containing very little water, and the people have to go to Bhimkee, halfa mile distant, where there is a spring with the water bubbling up freely through the ground. There was no cholera at Bhimkee. Between the two villages there is a long nullah with stagnant water. 

182. Ghunsoor, — a large village, with a population of 948, three miles from Shaipoorah, and two miles north of the road. Cholera broke out here on the 27th June, and 3 1 deaths were reported ; there was no evidence of the disease having been imported from elsewhere. The village is situated onasmall hillock, on which the houses are crowded together. The water-supply is derived from a Baolee (a well with steps down to the water), but the supply was very scanty. Close under the village, and partly encircled by it, is a large tank, the water of which was ye y foul; there are also other tanks half dry close by. 



52 

At Bhurdarwarra, the village nearest to Ghunsoor, th© water-supply i» from a well only, in which the supply of water is plentiful. Here there was na cholera. 

183. Kunwas-Piperia, — a village with a population of 274, on the road from. Shaipoora to Patun, along which there is considerable traffic. Cholera appeared, here on the 11th July, and 10 deaths occurred. The water-supply is drawn from a well ; there is also a tank half dry in the village, and a stream close by. 

At Khupra, a village with a population of 119, a mile further down this stream, a death from cholera was reported on the Ist June, and 3 deaths occurred, subsequently. 

Simuria, with a population of 94, on the same stream, lost 9 persons in July. This stream is everywhere sluggish, and in some parts the water is nearlystagnant. 



'a 

At Singhery, a village two miles from this stream, there was no cholera. The water-supply is derived from wells only. 

184. Four miles further on towards Fatun another stream crosses the tract. The villages of Burhia-Khera and Simuria, opposite to each other on ; either side the stream, and dependent solely upon it for water, suffered severely. The first case in the two villages occurred on the 19th June; a man belonging to. Simuria had been to Goaree, a neighbouring village, where a bazaar is held weekly ; he returned ill, and died the next day (neither at this time or subsequently did cholera prevail at Goaree) ; after he had returned, but before he. died, the child of a Chumar, living in a different part of the village, was attacked, and died in 8 hours. The first case in Burhia-Khera occurred on the same day ; the man returning from Goaree to Simuria would pass through Burhia- Khera. The latter village lost 14 out of a population, of 105 ; Simuria 13 out of 257. The stream on which these villages are situated runs through a flat country, and is generally sluggish ; between the two villages there is a short rapid with pools above and below. Burhia-Khera drew water from the pool above the rapid; Simuria from the rapid and the pool below. The latest fall of rain registered in Jubbulpore (17 miles distant), prior to the out-break of cholera, occurred on the 10th June. The villages of Deoria and Soorhia, a mile and a half from Simuria, were not visited by cholera Their water-supply is 

185. Along the central road from Jubbulpore to Saugorwa Patun, a Bunniah travelling from Saugor was seized with cholera, and died at Konee, across the Hirun, at the foot of the Bhanner range, on the 2Sth May. The disease attacked very few villages on this road besides Patun and Konee. Reports, were received from Baneekhera and Timra only, villages close together, 7 miles from Jubbulpore. Cholera appeared in Baneekhera oxi the 2nd June, and 8 persons died out of a population of 288. From Timra the first death was reported on the 23rd June, and out of a population of 144, 26 died. 

186. Patun, 20 miles from Jubbulpore, is the principal town of that, part of the district ; it has a population of 2,700. There is a Police station, and a large bazaar is held every Wednesday, where from 1,000 to 3,000 people assemble. The town is built around a hillock, on whiek there is an old fort ; the site is very; irregular and much intersected by water-courses, which were in manry places chocked with rank weed. The town was formerly much larger than it is now, and there are many ruined huts and houses in all directions; among them also rank vegetation had been permitted to grow, and the place looked dirty and neglected. The water-supply is drawn solely from weUs, of which there is a large number; many are, however, much out of repair, and all are without coping. The level of the water below the surface varies ( according ta the site of the well) from 8 to 20 feet below the surface of jtfre ground ; in many of the wells tliQ 



53 

•supply was scanty. There are also two large tanks to the south of the town ; one of these had been dry from the commencement of the season, in the other the water was very low. BjUi tluse tanks are above the general level of the town, and do not receive any of its surface drainage ; when full they probably tend to keep the sub-soil water near the surface over the area of the town* 

187. Cholera first appeared here on the Ist July, — a bazaar day; but as far as 1 could ascertain, the first person attacked was a Gond, a resident of the place living on the outskirts. 101 deaths occurred between the 12th July and 10th August. The disease was confined almost entirely to a portion of the town on low ground to the north-west, inhabited by Gonds, Aheers, Lodhees, and Koor^ inees, by whom a large number of cattle are kept. The place was very dirty ; it is somewhat separated from the main portion of the town, and a little outside of it is a ditch that receives nearly the whole of the surface drainage of the town. The people of this quarter depend on two wells fof water; the nearest and most convenient was 21 feet deep, and had 5 feet of water; this, however, was slightly brackish, and was used chiefly for watering cattle and washing clothes. The well chiefly resorted to for drinking water was at a little distance ; it was 24 feet in depth, but contained only lg foot of water in January. The bazaar and chief portion of the town appears to have been free from cholera, with the exception of a small mob ullah or section near the bazaar; here 12 deaths occurred. The well used by the inhabitants of this mohullah was very foul, the brick- work was broken, and a number of pigeons allowed to roost in it; the depth of this well was 19 feet, and it contained only 2 feet of watsr. Prior to the rut-break of cholera there had not been sufficient rain to affect the water in the wells ; a fall of 6-10ths was registered at Jubbulpore on the 24th June, and 3-Ioths on the 26th; before these dates there had been no rain for 12 days. 

Garaghat, — one mile from Patun, a large village, with a population of 770, chiefly Brahmins; 3 deaths only occurred, the first on the 14th June. 'Jhe watersupply is derived solely from wells. 

188. Ivonee, — a large village with a population of GOO, 3 miles from Patun, across the Hirun river; it is situated immediately under the Bhanner hills, which here present an almost perpendicular wall, upwards of 1,000 feet in height; the village is built on hard rock, and the ascent to it steep and rocky. As before stated, a Bunneah travelling to Saugor arrived suffering from cholera, and died on the 28th May; his body was thrown into the river; the disease did not then spread in the village, which does not again appear in the Police reports till the 28th of June, when 4 deaths were reported at the Patun station-house. From this time tke disease prevailed till the middle of August, and altogether 33 deaths were reported. The road to Saugor crosses the Bhanner rangfe a little below Konee, and by this route cholera appears to have reached on the other side the range, where a case was reported on the sth July ; the disease, however, did not spread in this 'direction. As early as the 3rd June, however, the disease had been conveyed across the Hirun, probably by the ferry at Bhyronghat, to a narrow valley between an out-lier of the Kymore range and the southern portion of the Bhanner. In this isolated valley the village of Koothree was attacked on the 12th June, and lost 13 persons out of a population of 22.3; and deaths were reported from the villages of Amakohee and Burma, in the same valley, on the 6th July. 

189. The villages along the road to Dumoh and Saugor by Kuttunghee experienced a like immunity with those on the other roads radiating from Jubbulpore. This road, crossing the Hirun at Kuttunghee, and winding 1 through the narrow space between the main Kymore range and the Bhanner hills, crosses the latter by Singrampore and Jubbera. From the latter town, which is on what was then the boundary between the Jubbulpore and Dumoh district, one death from cholera was reported on the Ist June; the disease did not then spread 



54 

anywhere in that locality. Subsequently, in the end of August and September, the villages of Sahusna, near the Singrampore and Saonra near Jubbera, suffered 

severely, and a small cluster of villages in the jungle tract north of Singrampore were attacked. The town of Kuttunghee almost altogether escaped, but some villages in the neighbourhood, at a distance from the road, suffered severely. 

190. Russoiah, a small village, with a population of 103, lost 13 in July. The first case was that of a Gond, who had returned ill from a village in the neighbourhood, and died the following morning. The water-supply is derived from a well and a Baolee ; both were on low ground below the village; in both the water was 21 feet from the surface; but in the well there was only 1 foot of water, and the brick- work was much broken, and occupied by a number of pigeons. In the Baolee there was 12 feet of water, and large fish were kept in it, with the view of preserving the water sweet ; this Baolee had been constructed by the Malgoozar a few years ago ; it was fenced, and none of the low caste people were allowed to draw water from it. Of those that died, 11 were Gronds, Chumars, and other low castes, and 2 (a woman and her child) Rajpoots. 

At Pururria, a small village on rising ground, a mile from Russoiah, there had been 3 deaths from cholera, — a man and 9. boys. Water-supply from a well in low swampy ground below the village. It was 45 feet deep, and contained 6 feet of water. The brick- work was broken and occupied by pigeons. 

At Kooshi, a large village, half a mile from Russoiah, there had been no cholera. The water-supply was derived from two wells in good repair, 30 feet deep, sunk in deep soil and clay, and containing 4 feet of water. 

At Loharee, on the main road, there had been no cholera. The water-supply was solely from wells, sunk 30 feet in soil and clay. 

191. Morai, — a village a mile and a half from the road, population 700 ; the houses much crowded on a small hillock; the soil is rich alluvium. Close to the village is a tank of wide area, but shallow, and Singharanut is grown in it. A large portion of the village is built round the lower end of the tank, but the greater part of the surface drainage from the village would be carried off in another direction; the borders of the tank and the catchment generally were much fouled. All the people resort to this tank for washing clothes and bathing, but they say they use well water for drinking. There is one well in a garden close to the tank, in which there was a good supply of Avater 40 feet from the surface; another outside the garden on lower ground, in which the water was 30 feet from the surface. Cholera broke out on the 22nd June, and between this date and the 23rd July 99 cases and 50 deaths were reported. 

192. The first case was that of a Dheemur, who had been to Kujoree, on the Hirun, where he had a kuddoo field;' he remained there two days, was seized with cholera while returning, arrived at Morai in the evening, and died the next morning. (Kujoree is three miles distant from Morai; at this time cholera had not appeared there). The same morning that this Dheemur died, a woman of the Koormee caste, living in another part of the village, was seized, and died at night; this woman, with about 50 others from the village, had joined a Bharat at Sehsan Purruria; this Bharat had come from Burgee ; it was a very large one, and they say 2,000 persons had assembled from different parts. Cholera broke out among them, and they dispersed. Those from Morai had returned several days before the Koormee woman was taken ill, and I could not ascertain that the others that had accompanied her suffered in a greater proportion than the rest of the people. 

Sehsan Purruria, is nine miles from Morai; but although cholera broke out among the Bharatees assembled there, it does not appear to have spread among the residents; only one death was reported from the village, and that was on the ,6th June. A woman belonging to this Bharat carried cholera to the village of 



55 

Bhirakee, and died there on the 10th June (para. 181). The bodies of all that died of cholera at Morai, excepting the very young children, were thrown into the Hiran ii mile distant, in a large pool between the villages of Goncearee and Donee. 

193. As the villages along the Nerbudda and the Hirun suffered in greater proportion than the villages scattered generally over the district, I will shortly describe these rivers, and give the details of the spread of cholera in some of the towns and villages on their banks. 

194. The Hirun river rises in the hilly country of Koondum, and, flowing northwards as far as Koonibhi, receives there the Belowra and other minor streams that drain the southern portion of that pergunnah; it then takes a winding bat generally westerly course, skirting the Sehora pergunnah as far as the southern point of the main Kymore range; in this part of its course it is joined by the Sohar a few miles above, and the Pureyat a short distance below the old town of Indrana, where it touches the Kymore range; it is joined by the Kyr river, and thence, taking a south-westerly course immediately under the Bhanner range, falls into the Nerbudda at Sakur. In its whole course it is confined within a narrow channel by steep clay banks, which rise seldom less than 40 feet above the stream, while in the lower part of its course they range from 70 to upwards of 100 feet in height; the bottom is generally sandy, the current varies, but in all parts of its course there are long deep pools. In the hot weather at the fords the stream is from 2to 3 feet deep. The banks are in many parts much scored by water-courses, and there is always a margin of from a few hundred yards to half a mile or more from the edge of the bank, which, from want of moisture, is unculturable. It is on this margin that the villages are generally built. There is no sub-soil water, and wells are not attempted, excepting in a few instances where a village may be situated in a hollow behind a tank, and more on a level with the stream. By far the greater number of the villages within a mile of the bank depend on the stream for water. The banks, or the ravines intersecting them, are the common places of resort for the purposes of nature, and the stream is from this cause very liable to pollution; but in addition to this source of pollution, the Hirun, as well as the Nerbudda and. the other rivers in the Jubbulpore district, were terribly polluted by the number of bodies thrown into them. 

195. The Nerbudda, being a sacred river, has been at all times polluted in this manner, bodies being brought to it from several miles distant. As regards the Hirun and the smaller streams, the practice does not appear to be habitually adopted, but only when cholera is present. The natives were not willingly communicative on this subject; but, besides being the quickest way of disposing of the dead, they have a notion that it is also the safest, — that by burning them, the air would become infected, but by committing them to the rivers they are devoured by the alligators, turtles, and fish. This is, no doubt, to a certain extent, the case in the Nerbudda, and in the deep pools in the lower part of the Hirun, in ordinary seasons, when there is no excessive mortality; but in several villages the people acknowledged that bodies had been seen not unfrequenbly floating down the stream. The ordinary practice is to sink the bodies, but, no doubt, this is often not attempted, or done ineffectually. 

Into the Hirun, between Khoombhi and its junction with the Nerbudda at Sakur, a distance of about 80 miles, many hundreds of bodies must have been thrown in the course of June and July; and after the beginning of June the river was never once flooded, the stream remaining lower than in the hot weather of ordinary years. 

196. From the Gosulpore pergunnah (which is bounded on the north by the Hirun), and from Indrana and that portion of the Sehora pergunnah, no reports were sent in; but 60 villages situated on the banks of the Hirun appear in the cholera reports of the different Police circles through which it flows ;arid^ 



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so far as I could ascertain, of the villages dependent on it for water throughout 

its course, very few escaped from cholera. 

To the east of Sehora, towards Koombhi, the villages of Moortha, Bundha, 

Kuchranee and Deoree, all situated on the Hirun, suffered severely in the latter end of June and in July ; the villages of Gurchapra, Negwanee, and the town of Indrana, in the middle part of its course, have already been referred to. The date of the prevalence of cholera in the town of Indrana is not shown in the return, but in the village of Sunghneedeep, on the opposite bank and a little below, 10 deaths occurred in the end of June and beginning of July. The next village, about four miles down the stream, is Goncearee ; midway between these two villages the Pureyat joins the Hirun ; and the body of water in the latter is considerably increased, 

but the Pureyat had been subjected to pollution by dead bodies almost equally with the Hirun; and from Surra, near the junction, deaths from cholera had been reported the last week in June and first week in July. 

197. Goncearee is situated on high rocky ground above the Hirun; the water-supply is solely from the river, which is here rapid, flowing over a rocky bed. This village first appears in the returns on the 9th July, when 11 cases and 3 deaths were reported. According to the returns, altogether 7 deaths occurred, out of a population of 390, but the people say that many persons were attacked. The first person attacked was a Gond, who had not left the village. Below Goncearee the river forms a pool of considerable depth, and extending nearly to the next village, Donee, rather more than a mile distant. It will be remembered that into this pool the bodies of all that died of cholera at Morai, 50 or more in number, were thrown ; of these, 16 were thrown in between the 23rd and 27th June. The first death from cholera at Donee was reported on the 30th June ; and altogether 5 deaths occurred, — the Malgoozar, a Brahmin, and three others. The village is small, containing a population of 150 only ; it is situated on high ground, at some little distance from the river, but there is no other water-supply. At this point the stream is divided by a low bank in the middle, the greater portion flowing under the opposite bank; the smaller running under 

198. From this date there was a general increase in the prevalence of cholera in the villages along the Hirun, from Donee downwards beyond Kymore, a distance of 20 miles by the river. The out-breaks in the different villages, 

At Khujooree, the village lj mile below Donee, and on the same bank, 3 cases and 1 death were reported on the 30th June, and 22 deaths occurred in a week or 10 days, out of a population of 272. From Loharee, on the opposite bank, 10 cases and 7 deaths were reported on the 12th July; and altogether 17 deaths occurred, out of a population of 204. From Unghora, 3 were reported on the 16th ; at Burailla a mile lower down, the first case occurred on the 7th. From Hinnota, six miles from Donee, no deaths were reported till the 23rd July ; and from Bindola, a mile lower down, a small village with a population of 90, one death only was reported on the 4th August. From Donee and Loharee the river makes a sharp bend to the north, and all the last named villages are on the right bank of the river, are small and situated on rough jungle ground close under the Kymore range, and to some extent isolated. 

199. At Kymore, a town with a population of 2,600, distant by the river 12 or 13 miles from Donee, but not more than 7 across country, the first case of cholera occurred on the 30th June. On the 2nd July 3 cases and 1 death were reported; but it was not until the 4th or sth that the disease broke out severely. On the latter date 20 cases and 11 deaths were reported, and by the 18th, 125 cases and 102 deaths had occurred, — altogether 120 deaths were reported. The people, however, say the number was nearer 200, but that the Kotwal having been attacked, a large number of deaths were not noted. There is certainly a very 



57 

abrupt break in the reports; the deaths are registered at Patun, 8 miles distant, on the 16th July 22, and on the 18th 32 deaths were reported, but on the 21st the number had dropped to 6. Kymore is situated quite on the river bank, which here rises 70 or 80 feet above the stream ; the drainage is rapid, and the bank is much scored by water-courses. The town was very clean in appearance, but the bank of the river and the ravines intersecting it were much defiled. The people are dependent solely on the river for water, for from the nature of the site thore can be no sub-soil water. A well had been sunk in the town 70 feet deep, but it only holds water when the river is high. The river below the town is a long still reach, extending- along the whole length of the town, and from 3 to G feet in depth ; the people wash clothes, and bathe, and draw water for domestic use from till parts of this pool indiscriminately. The dyers, who form a considerable portion of the population, carry on their operations in the lower portion of the same pool, and this class appears to have suffered in greater proportion than any others. The greater number, if not all of the bodies of those who died were thrown into the river a little distance below the town. There was no evidence of the choleraic influence having been imported from elsewhere; the disease had, however, broken out in Kohnee a x\ay or two earlier, and it appeared at the same time in Patun, between which town and Kymore there is constant intercourse. The mortality was in all probability greatly aggravated by the pollutionof the water by the dead bodies thrown into the river at Donee ; but even without this additional source of pollution, the state of the water in the pool below the town would probably have proved sufficient to render the population liable to cholera. 

200. In the village of Deoree, on the opposite bank of the river, cholera appeared on the same date as in Kymore, and 14 deaths occurred, out of a population of 250. The inhabitants draw their water from the rapid running into the pool under Kymore. This village is in constant communication with Kymore, the rtajah of the latter place having a house there. From Mooria and Manukwara, small villages below Deoree, no cholera was reported till the 14th and —_ 1 1 ( I tJ Ll 1* • y 

201. Kuttunghee, five miles higher up the river, affords a remarkable contrast with Kymore ; it is situated about a mile from the river, between the Kymore and Bhanner hills, immediately under the latter; the Jubbulpore and Saugor road runs close by it. On a higher level than the town is a tank of wide extent, and under the bund of this tank, and on a narrow strip of ground between it and the hills, the main portion of the town lies. The chief street in the town is a water-course, dry, excepting during rain; but in heavy rains the water must rush down it violentl} 1 ", the drainage from the face of the hills above being carried'partly through the town, and partly into the tank ; the latter would not receive the surface drainage of the town. The water-supply is derived from wells, of which there is a large number, the depth of the water from the surface beino 1 from 1 2 to 20 feet in the hot weather, rising close to the surfaoe in the rains. The site of this town is no doubt far more unhealthy than that of Kymore; the population is larger (3,300), and the houses more crowded together ; the sub-soil water also is at all seasons of the year within a moderate depth from the surface, while at Kymore it cannot be said to exist at all. In Kuttunghee 4 cases of cholera occurred in July. The first case was a man of the Dheemur caste, who had been employed in a field on the Hirun; he came back ill, and died the next day ; the second was a man who had been to the jungle to fetch wood ; of the third there were no particulars known ; the 4th was a girl of the goatherd caste, who had been tending goats on the Saugor road. The town may therefore be said to have escaped the epidemic entirely, though on the bank of the river, on both sides of it, all the villages suffered more or less. 

202. Below Kymore, on the road to Patun, the villages dependent on the Hirun for water suffered severely. 



58 

Timureea, one mile from Kymore, lost 23, out of a population of 3GO. Here the water-supply was partly drawn from a well, but the greater part of the population resorted to the river. 

At Sukra, a village densely crowded round a small tank, 92 died, out of a population of 890. The people say they used the tank water for cooking, but drew water for drinking from the river. 

203, A mile east of Sukra is the Mootureea, a small stream, which, flowing 1 northward, and converging towards the Hirun, joins that river a little above Kymore. I inspected seven villages situated closely together along this stream, at distances varying from three miles to less than a mile from Kymore and the villages of Timureea and Sukra ; not one of these had been visited by cholera. Two or three had wells from which they drew their water, others were dependent on the stream, but as the banks are muddy, and the stream is rendered muddy with every shower, the people sink jeerahs or small surface wells, in the clay bank, a few feet from the streams and used the water that filters into them. One of these villages (Doonguria) is situated within a mile of Kymore, where the road to Kuttunghee crosses the Mootureea, just before the latter joins the Hirun. This was the only village on the road that escaped cholera. 

204. The out-break of cholera at Konee, seven miles below Kymore, has been, already described. At the village of Hurdooa, three miles below Konee, cholera was first reported on the 4th July ; and 9 persons died, out of a population of 165. Below Konee the river is unfordable ; the Bhanner hills rise precipitously on one side, and on the other the bank becomes more precipitous, and the margin of dry uncultivated waste widens, so that the villages on the bank and dependent on the stream for water become few and far between. For the 25 or 80 miles of river that extend between Konee and the junction with the Nerbudda, there are not more than 10 or 12 villages on both banks of the river ; all on the left bank suffered more or less; but the out-break at Kutra-Belkera only requires special mention. 

205. Belkera is a large village on the Hirun, seven miles south of Patun, belonging to Thakoor Jowaher JSing; it lies in a hollow in a bend of the river, from which it is shut out by the high bank. The site is low, and almost on a level with the stream ; the sub-soil water is therefore not far from the surface of the ground at all seasons of the year, and there is no difficulty in obtaining water from wells; and the river being very inaccessible to them, the people depend entirely on well water for domestic use. Not a single death from cholera was reported from this village. On the bank of the river, and separated from the village by a deep ravine, is the Thakoor's Kutra, or fort ; the Kutra is built quite on. the edge of the bank, which here rises perpendicularly above the stream to a height of 120 feet; and around the Kutra is a cluster of huts, occupied by the Th,akoor's retainers, and a small bazaar,, containing altogether little more than 100 persons. These people draw water from the river, which they reach by a cutting in the bank by the side of the Kutra ; the place where they draw water is a deep pool ; into this pool, close above the ghat, the ravine between the village and, Kutra leads, and this is apparently used as a latrine by the inhabitants of both places ; the cattle also of both places are watered in the upper part of the pool. Cholera broke out here on the 4tti June, and carried off 23 persons ; the people gay that the pestilence raged very severely for about six days, but that afterwards there was an interval of a day or two between each case. Kon,e of the Thakoor's own family died, but there were one or two deaths among the servants living in his house. The first person attacked was a woman of the place, and there is na evidence of the disease having been imported from elsewhere ; cases, however, had beei} reported a day or two earlier from two villages, five and six miles distant. There was a fall of rain on the 2nd, which would have washed the sewage frouc\ 



59 

the ravines into the pool of the river, where the people obtained their drinking water. There is also another possible source of pollution ;it will be remembered tint a Bunneah had died of cholera at Konee on the 2Sth May, and that the body was thrown into the river. Konee is 10 miles by the river above Kutro- Belkeria, but it is possible that the body may have floated down ; there are, however, villages between, which were not attacked till later. This was the first out-break on this part of the river, and it is remarkable that later in the season, in July, when the epidemic prevailed generally among the villages on the river, Kutra did not again suffer. It does not appear in the weekly reports after the 13th June. 

£06. Malla, the next village down the river, distant three miles, was not attacked till the sth July; it then lost 18, out of a population 209. The first case from Hinnotea, four miles further down, was reported on the 6th; and 13 died out of a population of 350. Gooba, six miles below, was not attacked till the Bth August, and 6 deaths only, out a population of 930, were reported. 

Rujola, a small village among the ravines between the two rivers, with a population of 160, escaped till the 19th of August, when 4 deaths were reported. 

207. Pepuria-Khas, a small town with a population of 1,990, is the bazaar town for the villages in this neighbourhood ; it lies about a mile from the river, opposite the ferry at Bhyronghat. The water-supply is derived solely from wells, of which there is a great number sunk in the alluvial clay, with an average depth of 35 feet, and having 10 or 12 feet of water. Ten deaths from cholera occurred ; 9 cases and 8 deaths were reported on the 12th July-, one death on the 14th, and one on the ] Bth. I could gain no particulars of the out-break. Of those that died, the majoi'ity were of the better class, — Rajpoot, Lodi, and Kayuth. 

Atίenae, a large village, one and a half mile from Pepuria, on rich alluvial soil, with a water-supply derived from a w T ell in good order, 45 feet deep, and containing 10 feet of water, there was no cholera. 

At Oomerria, another village in the same neighbourhood, having the same condition of water-supply, and at which a weekly bazaar is held, a woman arrived from Mala, on the Hirun, five miles distant, suffering from cholera, and died. No other case occurred. 

208. On the right bank of the river, between Konee and the ferry at Bhyronghat, a distance of fifteen miles, at the base of the Bharmer range, which here almost overhangs the river, there are four villages, which are approachable only by the ferry. Gholera broke out in the village at the ferry on the 15th, and 40 died out of a population of 980. On the Ist August the villages of Ponda- Khoord, and Ponda-Kulan, four miles above the ferry, were attacked, and lost 39 out of a united population of 900. The other two villages are very small; at Peepuria-Kulan one death occurred on the 3rd August, and at Murha one on 

209, The villages on the Nerbudda, while it flows among the trap hills, do not, as a rule, resort to the river for water ; they are generally at a distance from the river, and each village has its own surface well or spring. A little above Goareeghat the river enters the alluvial deposit that forms the bed of its proper valley; the channel, however, is still confined within steep and lofty banks, which are much intersected by ravines, and there is a wide margin on either bank pf dry waste. The villages along this bank are therefore not numerous, but all that are within half a mile or more of the river are dependent upon it for water. As far as the railway bridge the river runs wholly in the Jubbulpore district; from the bridge to Sakur, at the junction of the Hirun, it forms the boundary between the districts of Jubbulpore and Nursingpore. From Goareeghat, 



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where the Nagpore road to Jubbulpore crosses the river to Sakur, the distance is about 40 miles, and 27 villages between these two points appear in the cholera returns ; in fact, with the exception of two or three in the Nursingpore district, deaths were reported from all villages on either side of the river. 

210. Cholera broke out in Goareeghat on the 15th May, among a body of coolies employed there, and in the course of the following three weeks or a month, 54 deaths were reported; and it is probable that a great number of the dead bodies were thrown into the river. The nearest village down the river is Ramnuggur ; here cholera broke out on the Bth June; on the 12th 11 deaths were reported; and the village lost altogether 22, out of a population of 4 70. It is situated on a ridge of sandstone rock that crops up near the river bank ; there isa well behind the ridge in which the water lies at 40 feet from the surface, but nearly all the people use water from the river. At Ghunsore and Seonee, or* the opposite bank, the disease appeared at the same time, and both villages suffered severely. At Lumheta, two miles lower down, the appearance of cholera was first reported on the 2Gth June, and the village lost 1 7, out of a population of 12(3.- 

On the 29th June, a body of labourers employed in the construction of the railway bridge were attacked. Beyond the bridge, on the Jubbulpore side, the village of Jhatone was attacked on the 12th July, and lost 32, out of a population of 600; and Tula, on the same bank, near the junction, lost 10, out of 500, ten days later. 

211. Sakur is a large village, with a population of 1,100, close above the junction of the Hirun with the Nerbudda. The bank of alluvial clay here rises-80 feet above the river. The village lies back half a mile from the edge of the bank, the intervening space being waste, and intersected in all directions by deep ravines ; these are much fouled, and the sewage after rain wo-uld be carried into the river above the place to which the people chiefly resort for drinking water. There were two distinct out-breaks of cholera in this village ; the first case occurred on the 15th June, and between this and the 19th there were 9 deaths; then no more cases occurred till the 2nd July, and between this and the 12th, 1 7 deaths took place, — -altogether there were 62 cases and 36 deaths. The meeting of the two rivers is a place of pilgrimage, and a large proportion of the population are Brahmins ; of these, however, only 4 died; the rest were chiefly Gonds, Dhee- 

At Heerapore, ilie village immediately below the junction, the Kotwal died of cholera, but no other case occurred ; and, although not a village on either river above their junction escaped cholera, as far as I could ascertain not one below suffered in the slightest degree. 

212. It has been before stated that cholera reached Gadurwara, near the western boundary of the district of Nursingpore, early in June. The central towns of Nursingpore and Chindwara were also attacked early in the same month; they, however, suffered but slightly; and, taking the whole district, the number ot villages visited by cholera was comparatively small. Of 876 villages that report to the different station-houses, deaths from cholera were reported from 46 or 5 per cent only; the greater number of these were in the Chindwara circle, which borders on Jubbulpore. Villages, however, here and there in all part of the district south of the Nerbudda, were attacked. In the majority of instances cholera was slight, but in a few it was very severe. Thus, at Jhiree, five miles south of the town of Nursingpore, 25 persons died in July, out of a population of 280; at Bahareepar, in the Buchai circle, 32 out of 300; and at Bhurasdo, 13 out of 120. The epidemic influence was therefore widely diffused over the district, but it would appear that last season the local conditions favourable for its manifestation did not generally prevail This partial insusceptibility to the choleraic influence 



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*nis temporary only, for in 1865 the district of Nursingpore suffered severely, and again, in the present year, it has prevailed in as great a degree in Nursingpore as in any of the neighbouring districts, and reached its maximum of prevailence even w&xe rapidly. 

213. The Nursingpore district forms the upper portion of the Nerbudda valley proper; the soil consists of rich blacksoil, several feet deep, overlying clay; the Nerbudda forms the main drainage channel, but its affluents that cross this portion of the valley, are very numerous, and the map of the district exhibits a close network of rivers and streams. Mr. Grant, in his Revenue report, in ?speaking of the drainage system of the district remarks : — v The actual fall of this section of the Nerbudda is comparatively inconsiderable, but the nearness of the hill ranges gives the affluents of the main rivers an impetus which, augmented even by the gentle slope of the valley towards the sea, tells very markedly on the deep alluvial soil. Indeed, it has been remarked, and with justice, that never was a water system attended with deeper or more widely ramifying ravines than that of the Nerbudda valley." It follows then, from such a drainage system, that the sub-soil water is quickly drained away, and that the supply of water in the wells becomes scanty in the hot weather ; in many parts the wells are very deep; arid almost everywhere the mass of the people depend upon the numerous streams for water. These streams, however, are apt to run very low in the hot weather, and, in order to counteract this rapid drainage, the practice of constructing dams across the streams, as the hot weather approaches, is almost everywhere adopted. "With a water-supply of this character, the comparative immunity from cholera experienced by the district in one year, and its excessive prevalence in another can, I think, be accounted for. 

214. A reference to the Table will show that in 1567 the rain-fall at Nursingpore was 27 inches above the average, and not only this, but in the early months of 1868 the rain-fall had been also above the average for those months. We may presume, therefore, that the streams remained fuller, and that the watersupply generally w r as more abundant than usual in the hot weather of 1868. In that year cholera prevailed but slightly. In 1808, however, the monsoon failed, and the rain-fall for the year amcunted only to 1 7 inches, or 34 inches short of the. average, which is 51; and not a shower fell between September 1868 and the middle of June 1869. Cholera broke out in April, reached its maximum of diffusion by the end of May, and before it ceased in the end of July, it had visited 394 villages, and carried off 4/294 persons. 

215. 'To the west and north-west the epidemic did not spread beyond the boundary of the Jubbulpore district; the district of Dumoh escaped entirely. At the town ofSaugor, however, on the other side of Dumoh, and 80 miles from the Jubbulpore boundary, cholera broke out on the ] 3th July, and continued to prevail till the middle of October. In this interval 203 persons died out of a population of 24,000. The disease first appeared in the village of Buheyr'a, five miles north-west of the town, where a family of goatherds were attacked, of whom 6 died. It did not spread further in the village. 

216. The town of Saugor is built on a ridge of hard sandstone rock, in a crescent form, embracing the lower end of a large lake. The natural drainage is good on all sides; the surface water from a portion of the city finds its way into the upper end of the lake, but the greater portion is carried elsewhere. The main streets are provided with side drains, but they are too large and are illconstructed. The Deputy Commissioner has paid particular attention to the conservancy of the town, and in none of the streets or lanes were any accumulations of filth or any foul smell observable, The lake is the chief source of watersupply; it occupies a surface area of tt§s acres, and is four miles in circumference; the catchment area is very extensive, and is for the most part unoccupied. The 



62 

lower end of the lake, round which the town is built, is faced' with stone" masonry, and provided with numerous ghats. At some of these the people are not allowed to bathe and wash clothes, but at the principal ghat vast numbers, nearly the whole population in fact, bathe and wash their clothes, and at the same time draw water for drinking. 

217. In the cantonment of Saugor there were only 8 deaths ; the population is 19,000. It is separated from the town by a very short interval, and the old Sudder bazaar was scarcely less crowded than the town. The condition in which they chiefly differ is the water-supply, — the cantonment being entirely dependent upon wells; but there is also a considerable difference in the character of the two sites, for while the town is built on hard rock, the cantonment lies on blacksoil, overlying basalt. 

218. In the present year cholera broke out in Saugof in May, and the mortality, both in the town and in the cantonment, has been greater than in the previous year; but there has been a like disproportion between the mortality in the town and among the native population in the cantonment, — between May and September, 449 deaths occurred in the former, and 109 in the latter. It is, moreover, remarkable that the greatest mortality in the cantonment occurred in the hot weather, while in the town it reached its maximum after continued heavy rain; thus, for the week ending the sth June the number of deaths in the town amounted to 20, in the cantonment to 27 ; for the week ending the 24th July, the deaths in the town were 70, in the cantonment 7. In the hot weather this year the water in the Avells in the cantonment ran very low, and there was great scarcity. 

219. In 1868 the epidemic did not spread in the Saugor district; only three villages, — two in the Saugor and one in the Rhelee sub-division, — being visited, and these very slightly. This year, however, as will be seen by the appended Statement, the district has suffered most severely. 

220. In the Nagpore district cholera first appeared among the labourers employed on the Northern road in the end of May; the epidemic, however, spread but little, 40 villages only in the whole district were visited; and of these, 3 i were on the northern and north-eastern Police circles of Ramtek and Mowdah. In former years, however, the district suffered severely. In 1865 the epidemic was diffused over the district by the pilgrims returning from the Mshadeo fair; and with reference to this epidemic, Mr. Malcolm Low, who was then Deputy Commissioner, reports as follows :— " In a general way it may be said that cholera appeared first at Saonair, Khapa, Kailva, Sawargaon, and Mowar, towns lying to the north of the district, and nearest Mahadeo ; and next visited Bhawapore, Khoudalee, and Ramtek, places situated far distant from each other ; last of all it broke out in Nagpore, Kamptee, and Oomrair. That the out-break in all these towns was immediately preceded by the advent of pilgrims from Mahadeo, I am not prepared to assert, but I have no hesitation in saying so as regards Saonair and the towns first attacked. In the case of Bhewapore and Oomrair it is said that the disease Avas communicated by people coming from i i 1 1 4- 1 ¦* \~\ iif fl^io ie zl /™\ nVi "f^i 1 1 " T[]G SO lit ll* ULI v Lilio lb LI O HULL LII. r 

"The disease exhibited its usual caprice in regard to places attacked. I was about myself a great deal in the cholera season, and nothing could be more extraordinary than the manner in which particular places seemed to be pit3hed upon for attack. While it was raging in Mowar aud Nurkhair, Bailona had hardly a case ; while it was at its height at Dhapawarra (and the people were so panic-stricken that I could hardly get the Local Committee to show me the town), Kulmeishwur, four miles off, had enjoyed perfect immunity. Nor was the advent of pilgrims always followed by the disease; there were many villages, some of whose inhabitants had returned from Mahadeo, that were not attacked at all. 



63 

v There were only two facts that stand prominently forward other things being equal, — first, a town enjoyed immunity in proportion to its cleanliness ; secondly, the disease was always worst in towns and villages where there was a river having stagnant or nearly stationary water running through or close by it." 

" The first of these points needs no comment, but I will instance some of the larger towns in illustration of the second. Cholera was worst in the followingtowns — and I will give them in the order of comparative severity with which they were attacked: — Mowar, Saonair, Dhapawarra, Nurkhair, Sawargaon, Boree, Ashtee, and Bailah, all of which are either intersected or bordered by streams containing stagnant water during the dry season. It would seem to follow from this, that towns near which large tanks exist, especially tanks with no masonry bunds, should have been severely attacked., but such, with the sole exception of Oomrair, was found not to be the case, — Parseonee, Bhewapore, Koohee, Bazargaon, and Khorai, have all considerable tanks, and comparatively there was but little cholera. B-amtek also is flanked on three sides by tanks, and there were only a few cases." 

221. The total number of deaths from cholera reported by the Police in the district of Nagpore in 1865 amounted to 3,022 ; but Mr. Low was of opinion that the returns were far below the truth. After this severe epidemic, measures were taken to improve the surface drainage, the conservancy, and general cleanliness of the district towns, and apparently great good has resulted from the efforts then made and since repeated to stimulate the people to greater carefulness in conservancy matters. In 1 868 the number of deaths reported amounted to 520 only, and this year to 570. Many of the towns mentioned by Mr. Low as having suffered severely in 1865 have been visited both this year and last, but, excepting at Oomrair, the mortality has been slight in all. 

222. The JSTagpore district is for the most part an undulating plain country, diversified by low hills and intersected by numerous streams. The geological formation of the greater portion is trap ; to the east and north-east, however, the formation is metamorphic ; it may be said that of three-fifths of the district to the west the formation is trap, while the remaining two-fifths to the east are metamorphic, while sandstone is found in several localities of limited area. 

In the trap formation the water-supply is derived largely from surface wells, or from streams having the characteristics which have been described above as o-enerally belonging to streams in the trap formation. The towns mentioned by Sir. Low as having suffered severely from cholera in 1865 are all in this formation. In the metamorphic formation, on the other hand, there are tanks of various size in close proximity to a great number of towns and villages. Water, however, lies at a moderate depth below the surface of the ground, and the people draw their water chiefly from wells. At Ramtek, for instance, there are numerous tanks which are largely used for irrigation; but there are also numerous wells in the town, to which the people resort for drinking water. 

228. The city of Nagpore is very irregular in form ; it is built on the bank of the Nag river; and the whole area is much intersected by ravines, which form not only its main drainage channels, but also the chief means of communication between its different sections. The geological formation is gneiss, for the most part in a state of disintegration, and extremely porous. The water-supply of the city is derived chiefly from wells, but partly from the large Jooma tank, whichliesto the south-west of the city and above the level of the greater part of its area. The palace and some of the houses of the upper classesinthe neighbourhood are supplied by water brought from the Ambajerry lake, about four miles distant. To the north of the city are several large pools (formed chiefly in excavating material for building), which collect the surface drainage of a large portion of the city area. 



64 

These podta are greatly resorted to by the women of the sections of the city in which they lie, for washing. The water of the wells over a considerable portion of the city is brackish, and unfit for domestic use j those containing sweet water are situated on the bank of the river along the watercourses, or on the borders of the pools abovementioned. In the higher part of the city the water in the wells lies at 50 feet and upwards from the surface of the ground; in the lower part it varies from 25 and 40 feet in the dry season, to 12 or 20 in the rains. In the wells along the river and water-courses the level of the water corresponds with that of the bed of the river or ravines, and in the wells near the large pools also the water rises as the water in the pools increases. The Nag river is an insignificant stream, which is dry in the hot weather, and its banks and bed are habitually polluted. When the porous nature of the strata is considered, there can be no doubt that all these wells are extremely liable to pollution by percolation into them of water strongly charged with sewage matters. 

224. The city has always been subject to frequent visitations of cholera ; the records of former years are scanty, but they are sufficient to show that from 1860 to 18G9 cholera failed to become epidemic in the years 186 1 and 1867 only. The season of its most frequent visitations is from July to September, but in several years it has appeared as early as February and March ; on these occasions in former years its early appearance was attributed to importation by pilgrims from the Mabadeo fair ; but even when it has appeared early in the year its prevalence has apparently always diminished for a time during May and June. 

225 In 1865 its first appearance coincided with the return of the pilgrims from Mahadeo, in the latter end of February; it ceased for a time in the latter end of May and beginning of June; it then broke out again, and continued till September. 28 7 deaths were returned up to the 10th of April; the returns for subsequent months are imperfect, but the total number of deaths from cholera in 1865 is estimated at from 600 to 800. 

226. In 1866 the first case of cholera occurred on the 16th July, and between this date and the end of September 463 deaths were reported. During this epidemic a careful inspection of the city was made, and strict enquiries were instituted into the state of the conservancy in private houses ; this was found to be extremely bad, and the inefficiency was in a great measure due to the great paucity of persons of the sweeper caste. After consulting with the principal men of influence it was resolved to import a number of sweepers from elsewhere, and to organize a regular service for the removal of sewage from private houses, the cost to be provided by a voluntary rate levied on all latrines. One hundred sweeper families were imported, and the service organized by the end of 1867. 

227- In 1868 cholera became again epidemic; the first case occurred in the city on the Ist June, the last on the 27, th September; but the total number of deaths amounted to 243 only. 

228. In the present year cholera first appeared on the 20th February ; between this and the 25th May 59 deaths were reported; the epidemic then ceased till the 15th July, when it again showed itself, .and up to the end of August 296 deaths have been reported. 

229. Of the 59 deaths that occurred in the early months of the year, 21 were reported during the last week of April. In May the Nag river ran dry and the pools of surface drainage in various parts of the city dried up; the well* in their vicinity also very soon failed, and then the Jooma tank and one or two very deep wells formed the only sources of water-supply for the whole city. The mass of the population was entirely dependent on the Jooma tank. This tank is about half mile in length by quarter mile in width, and is faced with stone on three sides. When futf, the depth of water at its lower e?id is twelve feet in the 



65 

hot weather, this year it was reduced to four feet. Samples of this water were submitted for analysis to the Chemical Examiner in Calcutta in 1865, and it was pronounced by him unsafe for drinking. The catchment area of the tank is partly occupied by the Kailway station, the Civil station, and the Sudder bazaar; it must therefore, be contaminated to a considerable extent with sewage matters. The Sudder bazaar is upwards of two miles from the lower end of the tank, and for a mile or more above the point at which the people draw water; the water flowing into the tank is not exposed to pollution ; moreover, there had been no heavy fall of rain since the beginning of August, and consequently no fresh sewage matter had reached the tank for many months ; still, cholera prevailing in all directions, such' a water-supply for a population of 85,000, could not fail to be a source of anxiety to all who had charge of the public health. To guard against further pollution, in the event of rain falling, patrols were placed along the main channels leading in to the tank, to prevent their being fouled; platforms were erected so that the people could draw water without stepping into it; and sentries were posted to prevent people from washing clothes or bathing in any part of the tank. These measures probably obviated pollution of the water with any specific poison. •As the hot weather advanced, however, the water assumed a greenish appearance, and for a short time in April it emitted a slight offensive odour; there was, however, no remedy for this, and to interdict the use of the water was out of the question, therebeing no other supply for many miles. Accordingly throughout April, May, and June, and up to the middle of July, the ghats were crowded with women drawing water from early dawn to mid-day. Throughout this period, or as long as the people were dependent altogether upon the Jooma tank for water, they remained free from cholera. In May, 13 deaths only were reported; and from the last week in May to the 3rd week in July there was only 1 death from cholera in the whole city. The first rain fell on the 16th June; but though after this date rain fell almost daily, no heavy falls of rain occurred; and it was not until towards the middle of July that water began to collect in the river and the surface pools, or that the wells were affected by percolation from these sources and from the main drains and water-courses that intersect the area of the city. When, however, water became available from these sources cholera, very soon reappeared. During the week ending the 1 7th July 5 deaths were reported, and by the 21st August the deaths during the previous week had amounted to 67; the epidemic then again declined. 

230. In July 1866, and again in July of the present year, cholera first appeared in the 4th and sth divisions, which border on the large pools that collect tjie surface drainage of that part of the city. As I have before stated, these pools are chiefly resorted to by women for washing clothes, &c, and it is most probable that while at work there they drink the water of the tanks, in both years the mortality from cholera in these divisions ot the city has been far greater among the female than among the male portion of the population ; thus in 1866, in the 4th division, in the first week of the epidemic the mortality was in the proportion of 3 males to 32 females; and in the sth division, up to the end of the 3rd week of the epidemic, the total number of deaths amounted to 23 men and 49 women. 

In the epidemic of the present year, of 11 persons treated for cholera at the Dispensary in the 4th division in the last week of July, 10 were women; of 8 deaths reported at the station-house of the 4th division, 7 were women; and of 23 reported in the same period at the station-house of the sth division, ] 6 were women. The use of a portion of these tanks was then prohibited, and the subsequent relative mortality was to a considerable extent modified. '[ he total mortality in the 3rd, 4th, and sth divisions, however, from the 20 July to the end of August, amounts to 127 women and 77 men; and taking the whole city for the 



66 

same period the numbers are as follows :—: — 

A ttacked. Died. 

Females... .. ... 342 175 

Males ... . . ... 239 121 

Females in excess of Males... 103 54 

231. To fully appreciate the significance of this great excess of mortality from cholera among women, it must be borne in mind that the female population in these Provinces, as in the rest of India, is less than the male population, and that in our statistics hitherto, the mortality of the two sexes has been in the proportion of 80 females to every 100 males. Secondly, that the domestic duty of drawing water and washing clothes almost invariably falls on the women. The crowds drawing water of a morning at the principal wells, or washing clothes in the tanks or streams, are composed almost entirely of women and girls of all ages; boys sometimes accompany their mothers; but, excepting those of the washerman caste or water-carriers, men are seldom so employed. 

232. Next to the 3rd, 4th, and sth divisions of the city, cholera broke out most severely in the 6th division, which is traversed by the main drain of the city; along this drain, which is simply paved with rough stones, are numerous wells, the water of which is used for drinking. Between the 4th and Bth August 11 deaths were reported in this division, on the 6th the wells along the drain were all closed, and after the Bth only 4 deaths from cholera at long intervals occurred. In other seasons some influential people living in the division had derived their water from a cistern supplied by the pipes from the Ambajerry lake, and in the former epidemic none of them had suffered; this year the supply from the lake has failed, and these people have suffered ; three persons living in one of the best houses in the division were carried off. During the prevalence of cholera the level of the water in the wells in the 4th and sth divisions when cholera chiefly prevailed, was from 50 to 55 feet from the surface of the ground; in the 6th division the depth was from 25 to 35 feet. 

SECTION 111. 

Review of the history of the epidemic, and conclusions with reference to the con- 

ditions that appear to favour the spread of the disease among the people, and 

the measures that are required to remove those conditions. 

233. I have now described the localities in which cholera prevailed with severity in 1868, and have also given the details of its appearance and subsequent prevalence among the populations of a large number of towns and villages. It remains to be considered what light the facts detailed afford regarding the means by which the choleraic influence is diffused, and the conditions, atmospheric, local, and personal, that promote the manifestation of the disease. 

234. In a former part of this report, when reviewing the evidence bearing on the origin of the epidemic, it was shown that although there was no actual proof of the choleraic influence or infecting matter having been imported from elsewhere, yet the fact of the first manifestations of the disease having occurred in bodies of men located close by a road daily thronged with passengers from a part of the country in which the disease had previously appeared, afforded strong support to the supposition, that the infecting matter may have been imported, rather than generated locally ; and the account given of the subsequent spread of the disease, and of its appearance in the diffeient towns and villages scattered over the epidemic area, appears to me to favour the opinion that the choleraic influence is diffused by means of human intercourse, and by that means alone. 

235. The diffusion of the epidemic was at first very slow, and for the first month it made but little progress from its first focus ; tfrat this was probably due to the circumstance of the local conditions necessary for the manifestation of the disease being not generally present at the time, will be sjaown hereafter. When, 



67 

however, in the latter endof Mayand beginning of June the diffusion of the disease became more rapid, it did not extend in any particular direction, or by a gradually widening circle from the original focus, but we find it suddenly appearing at distant points along the main lines of communication, the intervening tracts of country for the time escaping. Thus, eastward from Seonee the epidemic reached Mundla, 80 miles distant, by the Ist June; but it was not generally diffused over the tract country intervening for several weeks. Over the country eastward from Mundla the disease did not spread ; an isolated out-break, however, occurred in this direction in a village 60 miles distant, whither the infection was probably conveyed from Mundla. Northwards from Jubbulpore the disease appeared at Sleemanabad, on the road, 40 miles; and at Moorwarra, 60 miles distant, in the first week of June; but very few villages in the immediate neighbourhood of Jubbulpore were attacked till the following week, instances occurred, moreover, where outlying localities, shut off from frequent intercourse, though eventually visited by cholera, remained free long after localities as far or further removed from the original focus of the epidemic had been attacked. Thus, the disease appeared in Moorwarra early in June, but the villages in a somewhat isolated locality in the north-east corner of the Koombhi pergunnah, but within the Moorwarra circle, were not visited till the end of July or August. The villages on the opposite banks of the Hirun are also instances of the same phenomenon. 

236. No natural barriers proved obstacles to the spread of the epidemic; it reached Nagpore from Seonee unimpeded by a belt of forest 40 miles in width. Between Seonee and Mundla the intervening country is for many miles an uninterrupted tract of hill and forest; and westwards from Jubbulpore the Bhanner and Khymore ranges of hills, rising almost perpendicularly from the plain to the height of 1,000 or 1,500 feet, did not bar the passage of the epidemic. The prevailing wind during the epidemic period was westerly and north-westerly. In the Seonee district the direction of the spread of the epidemic was rather easterly and north-easterly, but in the Jubbulpore district it was the reverse, — tending more to the west and north-west. 

237. The limited extent of the area over which the epidemic spread, compared with the epidemics of former years, is no doubt in a great measure due to the fact that the original focus was not, as in former years, an assemblage of pilgrims gathered from all parts of the country, but a small body of men, of which the main portion did not disperse; the subsequent diffusion of the disease being chiefly effected by means of local traffic and the ordinary daily intercourse between village and village. Northward the epidemic did not extend beyond a circle, of which Jubbulpore is the central point, to which all local traffic tends. Southward it extended into Berar; but here it would appear that the influence of pilgrimages came into operation, — the first out-break in Ellichpore being attributed to the return of persons from the temple at Ramtek. 

238. Many instances have been given in which an out-break of cholera followed closely upon the arrival of persons suffering from the disease; and it may be remarked that these instances occur more frequently in the earlier part of the epidemic, and among the scattered villages of Seonee and Mundla, than later in the season, and in the more densely populated district of Jubbulpore. Examples are also given of the extent to which the diffusion of the disease is 

239. The accounts given of the out-breaks of cholera at Kyra (para. 94), at Soonwarra (para. 102), Gokulkara (para. 109), and Bhoodooa (para. 153), afford evidence that the disease may be imported into a place by persons in whom no symptoms of the disease are apparent; and in other instances, as at Sehora and Kaiia (para. 82), tbe importation of the disease into one village was so closely 



68 

followed by an out-break in another with which it is in frequent communication, that, though the actual transmission of the choleraic influence cannot be proved, the presumption in favour of its having been effected by means of personal intercourse, and by persons not evidently suffering from the disease, is very strong. 

240. Perhaps the most noteworthy instance of importation of the disease occurred in the commencement of the epidemic of the present year. A body of coolies, varying from 2,000 to 3,000 in number, had been employed on famine relief works on the Lown road, in the neighbourhood of Raepore, throughout the month ot April. I inspected them there in the latter end of the month; and though some showed signs of having suffered from want of sufficient food, a large proportion were in very good condition ; as a body thsy had not the appearance of being famine stricken, and there was no sickness among them. In the beginning of May they were transferred to works in the neighbourhood of Simgah, and they arrived at the village of Baheera on the 4th May 2,300 strong; on the 6th they were joined by a gang 1,100 strong from the neighbourhood of Simgah, — forming a body on the morning of the 7th of 3,400. These were all located near a tank ICO yards in diameter and 4 feet deep; from this tank the villagers of Baheera, as well as the coolies, were dependent for water. Half of the tank was reserved for drinking water, in the other the people were allowed to wash and bathe; the banks, however, were shallow, and the people had to wade to reach clean water. Latrine trenches were provided, but it may be doubted if they were much used. Between the 2nd and 12th the Native Doctor's register shows that only 9 cases of diarrhoea had been treated; and these occurred among the Raepore coolies. On the 7th a gang of 66 coolies arrived from Seoreenarrain, 60 miles distant, in the Belaspore district ; they were in a rather exhausted condition on their arrival, and were therefore allowed two days' rest. On the 10th they were sent to work with the other gangs; they, however, squatted separately by themselves at night, and were called the Seoreenarrain gang. The constable in charge of the gang affirmed that no sickness appeared among the gang en route from Seoreenarrain, or before joining the main body at the village of Baheera, and the Deputy Commissioner of Belaspore reports the same. It Avas not at the time known to the district authorities that cholera had appeared at Seoreenarrain, or anywhere in the neighbourhood; it had, however broken out there on the Ist of May (i.e. the day or the day before the coolies left for Simgah) ; and in the report to my office for the week ending the Bth May, 26 cases and 21 deaths are returned. As above stated, the Seoreenarrain gang was placed to work with the main body cf the Simgah and Raepore coolies on the 10th May; on the 12th cholera broke out among the latter. 

241. The following account of the out-break is extracted from a letter from the late Deputy Commissioner, Captain Twyford (who was himself carried off by cholera a day or two afterwards), written from Simgah on the 17th: — 

" About 2 p.m. on the 12th May, after the mid-day meal, when the coolies were first going to recommence work, 23 persons were seized ; they were attacked with slight purging, and at the same time complained that their bodies were on fire; they did not vomit; 10 died. By the evening of the same day 160 persons, including the above 23, had been seized; and of these, 52 died. Up to date (May, 17th) 168 persons have died; lately several have vomited, but the vomiting generally takes place after the patient has drunk a little water. The average duration of the disease was about twelve hours. The Tehseeldar brought the sick, and as many coolies as he could get to accompany him, to Simgah on the 1 4th May ; but by the 15th all the coolies had dispersed, except those who remained to attend the sick. The cause of the out-break is difficult to find out. It appears that the Seoreenarrain coolies arrived on the 7th instant in a weak and exhausted condition; they were kept in hospital for two days, and then sent to the work on the 10th. It is said the same symptoms from which the people have died here 



69 

occurred at Seoreenarrain before the coolies left for Simgah, It is therefore possible that they brought the disease with them ; on the other hand, it is ascertained that none of them have died, and they have remained till the last. The coolies among whom the disease first made its appearance were the Lown coolies, who had all along been working on the Lown road. Cholera appeared among the villages of Baheera almost simultaneously with the out-break among the coolies." 

242. That cholera was in this instance communicated to the Haepore coolie* by the gang from Seoreenarrain, there can I think be little doubt ; but there i» also as little cause for doubt that at the time when they communicated the disease it had not become developed in them ; they had left the infected locality from which they came eight days previously, they had marched 60 miles in the interval, and no symptoms of the disease had appeared among them. 

243. In this instance it is probable that if the Seoreenarrain coolies had been subjected to a prolonged quarantine before they were permitted to join the main body, the out-break of cholera might have been for the time averted. It would appear, however, that in order to ensure safety against the communication of the disease, a longer term of quarantine is required than is commonly thought necessary, and the difficulty of enforcing quarantine is proportionately increased. When it can be carried out with a chance of its proving efficient, as in the case of jails, and perhaps military cantonments, it is a precautionary measure that should not be neglected, but to apply it as a protection in the cases of gangs of coolies extended along a main line of communication, is obviously impossible, and any attempts to check by such measures the spread of cholera among the general population must I believe always prove futile, for, as has been shown abundently in this report, cholera is diffused over a district rather by the daily intercourse between village and village than along the main lines of communication. 

244. Until the nature of the contagion can be discovered, and its first development prevented, we must look to checking the ravages of the disease by investigating and, as far as practicable, removing the conditions that favour its manifestation, rather than by attempting to limit the diffusion of the choleraic influence. Early in the present year, when the first out-breaks of cholera were reported, I recommended the establishment of quarantine at certain points. Afterwards, however, in the course of my tour, on arriving at a point on one of the main lines of communication where quarantine had been established, I found that, although a large number of foot passengers, a drove of pack bullocks, and some 60 carts had been stopped from two to four days, and the progress of important railway works in the neighbourhood greatly interfered with, no passengers of the better class had been detained; moreover, cholera had passed the barrier, and had already appeared in villages behind it. The uselessness of quarantine of this kind was so obvious, and the obstacles in the way of rendering it more stringent and effectual so great, that I recommended that the general traffic of the country should no longer be interfered with by attempts of the kind. 

245. With reference to the effect of states of the atmosphere on the diffusion of cholera, the evidence afforded in the report is so far imperfect, that the only observations recorded were not taken within the tract of country over which the disease prevailed with the greatest intensity. Subsequent observations, however, show no great difference between the climates of Nagpore, Seonee, and Jubbulpore. Seonee, from its greater elevation, has a mean temperature 3 degrees cooler in May. At Jubbulpore, probably in consequence of its soil, the atmosphere is drier. Allowance being made for these differences, Table I. fairly indicates the meteorological conditions prevalent over the area described. 



70 

24ti. As I have before stated, no inferences «re cfecfcierble tfronVthe record* of barometric pressure. As regards temperature rind mcasture, it is scarcely possible to estimate the*direct effect of these conditions apart from their action on surrounding circumstances of soil and We find, however, that cholera fip»t manifests itself when the hot wealther has fairly set yi ; that some -of the most violent outbursts of the disease, as at Soonwarra, Kana, and Dunwahi (paras. 82,102,126), occurred during a period in which the mean daily temperature ranged from 90° to 95°, the wind blowing with a mean velocity of 5^ miles per hour ; a difference between the dry and wet bulb of the hygrometer, Tangijag from 2-B'° ut 10 a. m. to 36 Q at 4> p. m,, at the same time indicating a dryness of atmostphere which can scarcely be surpassed. When the description of the sites of the villages alluded to above is borne in #iind, I think it naust be conceded that neither extreme heat or extreme dryness of the atmosphere checks the development of cholera. It may here be noted also, that under these atmospheric conditions cholera was conveyed from Lucknadown to Soonwara, a distance of fifteen miles, and from Jubbulpore to Dunwahi, twenty-seven miles. It is the opinion of the natives that cholera is most severe in the hot weather, but continues longer in the rains. 

247. But while there are numerous facts recorded in the report that strongly support the opinion that the choleraic influence is diffused solely by means of human intercourse, there are, on the other hand, many instances in which the arrival in a town or village of persons suffering from cholera was not followed by an out-break of the disease among the population; and in the returns from all the circles a considerable number of villages appear, from which one or two deaths only was reported. A reference to Table VI. and to the map also will show that the proportion of villages attacked varied greatly in different parts of the epidemic area, and that, in all, the greater proportion of the villages escaped. Moreover, frequent instances are given of villages in close juxta-position, where one suffered severely from cholera, while the others experienced complete immunity. 

245. It is evident then that all localities, or the populations inhabiting them, are not alike amenable to the effects of the choleraic influeuce; and we have to consider what information the report affords regarding the conditions that favour the manifestation of the disease. The epidemic prevailed with the greatest severity in the districts of Seonee, Jubbulpore, and a portion of Slundla ; these districts extend over a hilly and undulating country, having an elevation above the sea varying from 1,300 to 2,300 feet; in parts covered with dense forest, in parts open and treeless, having a remarkable variety of soils and substrata, and intersected in all parts by rivers and streams, which for the most part have a rapid fall, and which almost everywhere effect a rapid drainage of the subsoil water. Referring again to Tabta VI. and to the map we find that the highest rate of mortality occurred in the trap formation ; that the disease also visited with great severity villages along the banks of the Nerbudda, the Hirun, and the Pureyat rivers, that traverse the wide alluvial tract of the Jubbulpore district; and that, on the other hand, the proportionate number of villages attacked, and the ratio of mortality, were comparatively low in the metamorphic tracts of Kuttunghee, in. the Seonee district, and the tracts of the same forinatiobs and of the sandstones that are found in the district of Jubbulpore. 

249. The conditions of site, soil, eub-stratiaj and water-supply that surround the towns and villages in. these various situations differ considerably. In thfc trap formation the villages are situated on tli« tops of jv»cfey 'ridges, or on high opeu< plateaus; they are almost invariably built on hard impornaeafole rock, bare of soil, and where sub-soil water is non-exis4»nt ; ia fact, more' dry^ healthy sites could scarcely be found anywhere* 



71 

it would appear then from the extreme severity with which cholera jtoe vailed in villages under these conditions that elevation and dryne&s of site ate no protection against the invasion of the disease. 

250. It would appear too that the infecting matter of cholera cannot bfc always developed in the soil, for in the sites of these villages generally moistiir<* and sub-soil water, and even soil are non-existent, and notably so in certain villages, as JElana (para. 82), Kuttiaghat (para. 132), and Ghunsoor (para. 100j_; where the disease raged with extreme violence. A more parched condition tha'tei that presented by the trap formation in the hot weather, when cholera more commonly prevails, can scarcely be imagined. 

251. If the description that T have given of the banks of the rivers and the streams, both in the trap formation and alluvial plain of Jubbulpore, is borne in mind, it will be allowed that here too the conditions of moisture and sub-soii water, supposed to be necessary to the development of the infecting matter of cholera, are wanting in a remarkable degree. Next only to the trap hills, the banks of the rivers afford the driest sites in the country. In the drought of last season, the crops in the fields in the neighbourhood of these rivers were the first to suffer, and for a considerable margin along the banks the ground is an arid uncultivated waste. At Burgowan on the Pureyat, at Ramnuggur or Lumheita on the Nerbudda, at Kymore or Kutra on the Hirun, sub-soil water does not exist, and water from wells is not obtainable; yet all these places suffered very severely from cholera. Moreover, in remarkable contrast to these places, we find that the town of Kuttunghee and the village of Belkera, places in the immediate neighbourhood of Kymore and Kutra, but where, from their exceptional position, sub-soil water lay at only a slight depth from the surface, experienced complete immunity. 1 think then it may be said that the notion of their being any relation between moisture of the soil and sub-soil water and the development of the infecting matter of cholera, derives no support from the study of cholera as it prevails in these Provinces. 

252. The opinion that a water-supply containing organic impurities is the chief, if not the sole condition under which cholera manifests itself, is now I believe very commonly held by observers in this country and in England; and there can be no doubt that this doctrine receives very strong confirmation froni the facts which we have now been able to collect regarding the spread of cholera in the towns and villages of this part of India. 

253. In former epidemics cholera has commonly made its appearance early in the year, in March or April, and has reached its maximum of diffusion in May and the early part of June, when, in consequence of the rapid drainage that is characteristic of the water system of the country, the water-supply is scanty. 

254. The epidemic of 1868 was exceptional in its course ; t?he disease appeared in April, but its subsequent progress was slow. In Seonee it had visited: a-riumbei' of villages near the road, by the end of May, but although it reached Jiibbulpbre by the 15th May, it did not attain to its maximum diffusion over thfc disWkt till the middle of July. This exceptionally slow progress of the epidemic in 1868, however, rather tends to prove what has been before stated regarding the more usual progress of the disease. 

255. A reference to Table 11. will show that in 1867 the rain-fall throngliout the country had been excessive, and that this excess was most marked in the district of Jubbulpore and in the adjoining- districts of Dumoh, Nursittgpore, antf Mundla ; and not only this, but in the darly months of IS6S the rainfall had been above the average. In thfc hdt weather of 1868, therefore, the water supply df the country must have been more plentiful than usual. In the presence of ttittf. more abundant supply of water the progress of the epidemic was slow, an & II 



72 

"was confined within a comparatively narrow area. The monsoon rains of 186S, however, fell short, and the mean rain-fall for the year throughout the Provinces was nearly 20 inches below the average. In many districts, especially JubbuU pore, Dumoh, and Nursingpore, it was even more scanty. Moreover, throughout the whole country not an inch of rain fell between September 1868 and the third week in June 1869. This year, compared with previous years, cholera appeared unusually early; slight out- breaks occurred here and there as early as December and January. In April it had begun to spread in the greater number of the districts of the Provinces, and by the end of May in Jubbulpore alone 232 villages had been attacked, in Nursingpore 188, in Seonee 100, and in Dumoh 10H. By the second week or June the epidemic had reached its greatest height, and in some districts had already begun to decline. 

256. It occurs, moreover, in all epidemics, that when the supply of water in the rivers, tanks, and wells have been replenished by the periodical rains, cholera ceases to prevail, and an out-break between the middle of September and the commencement of the hot weather is unusual. 

257. Comparing the tracts of country which experienced comparative immunity from cholera with those which suffered severely, we find that they differed greatly in the character of their water system; thus in Kuttunghee, the southern portion of the Seonee district, and again in Sleemanabad and Moorwarra, the northern sub-divisions of Jubbulpore, the water-supply is chiefly drawn from deep wells, in which in ordinary seasons the quantity is plentiful throughout the year; and in both these tracts of country the proportionate number of villages attacked and the percentage of mortality were alike comparatively small. On the other hand, cholera fell with the greatest severity in the villages in the trap formation, where the water-supply is derived either from shallow surface wells, sunk in porous material, and in situations where the water is especially liable to be contaminated with sewage matter, or from streams which in the hot weather contain water that is nearly stagnant. Again, the disease prevailed severely in the alluvial plain of the Jubbulpore district, where a large proportion of the villages are dependent for their water-supply on rivers which had been polluted by dead bodies thrown into them, on smaller streams the banks of which are habitually fouled, or on tanks that receive the surface drainage of the village area. 

258. Even in those tracts, however, in which the disease most widely prevailed, the rate of mortality in the different towns and villages attacked varied greatly ; as a rule, it was low in towns and large villages having several sources of water; severe in those confined to one only. Moreover, a large proportion of the towns and villages were not visited at all, and in many in which persons suffering from cholera had arrived, the disease did not spread among the inhabitants. A large number of these were inspected, and in all it was found that, compared with the villages that suffered, the water was plentiful and fairly safe from pollution. It was derived either from deep wells with a good supply of water, from a tank not receiving the surface drainage of the village, or from a stream with a 

Further, if we consider the instances given everywhere in the report of towns and villages that escaped the disease while others in close proximity suffered severely, it seems impossible to explain the immunity of Khapa, close to Kuladehi (para. 74); of the Hoolkee bazaar and Dhoomah (paras. 75, 76), along the main road so infected with cholera; of the hamlet of Soonwarra (para. 102), compared with the main village of Kymore, compared with Kuttunghee; of the line of villages on the Moturria river, running parallel with the Hirun at a short distance from it; of Belkera, adjoining Kuttra ; — if this immunity is not attributable 



73 

to the difference in the nature of their water-supply. The Statement showing the distribution of the coolies along the main road also supplies many similar examples. 

In further proof of the relation between the manifestation of cholera and the condition of the water-supply, I would refer to what is stated in para. 85 of the effect of the prohibiting the use of the water of the tank at Seonee, and to the account given of the water-supply of Nagpore. In the latter instance, the immunity from cholera of the population, as long as they were confined to one particular source of supply ; the reappearance of the disease as soon as water from other sources became available; the effect of closing a set of wells evidently liable to contamination by the percolation of surface water containing sewage matters; and lastly, the very remarkable excess of mortality from cholera, occurring in the course of two successive epidemics, among Women employed in washing clothes in tanks containing water derived from the surface drainage of the city area, — are, I think, incontrovertible facts in support of the doctrine that, as regards the general population of the country, an impure water-supply is the chief condition under which cholera manifests itself. 

259. With regard to the different forms of water-supply and their liability to pollution, the open springs and small surface wells, so common in the trap formation, are undoubtedly the worst; the most fatal out-breaks of cholera occurred in villages dependent on this form of water-supply. Many are mere shallow puddles; others being not more than 6 feet deep, the surface drainage readily finds its way into them between the impermeable rock and the thin stratum that overlies it, while the ground sloping towards them is almost invariably fouled. Wells also in very porous formations, and retaining but a few inches of water in the hot weather, are dangerous sources of supply. A well sunk from 25 to 30 feet in clay or alluvial soil, and containing 3 to 6 feet of water in the hot weather, I believe to be the safest of the ordinary sources of supply. Jn no village dependent solely on such source of supply did I find that cholera had prevailed. Where there is a tank or stream, as well as a well, it is very difficult to ascertain to what extent each source of supply is resorted to, How far the larger rivers are dangerous sources of supply, when not made the depositories of the dead from the villages in their neighbourhood, may be better estimated when it is ascertained that the practice has been stopped. Stringent orders have been issued against it, and comparatively few of the villages on the banks of the Hirun and Nerbudda that suffered severely in 1868, appear in the returns of the present year, and in those that have been visited the mortality has been slight. Jn many villages on the smaller streams the mortality was great ; it appeared to vary, however*, with the character of the streams; those villages dependent on the semistagnant pools of the streams in the trap formation, as Myra and Kyra on the Sagur (para. 94), and the villages round Heerapore (para. 119) suffered severely; while in the villages on the Hugni, a sluggish weedy stream in the Sehora pergunnah, the mortality was slight; and villages on the Burnoo, a rapid stream with a sandy bottom, in the same neighbourhood, escaped altogether. The villages on the Kutna river too experienced remarkable immunity. 

260. In estimating the effects of the waters of different streams in relation to cholera, the different strata in which they flow must be taken into account. It is probable that the condition of the organic impurities in water would he modified by the presence or otherwise of certain salts ; and it may be that there is some relation between the absence of vegetation in the clear weedless waters of the trap rivers, and the higher rate of mortality among the population dependent on them for water. 

261. Many instances are given in which a population dependent solely or in part upon a tank for water suffered severely from cholera, as the towns of 



74 

Sepnee, Saugor and Mujhowlee, and the village of Moral ; and by a reference to the Statement appended showing the mortality from cholera in the different districts during the epidemic of the present year (1869), it will be seen that the highest rate of mortality was reached in the districts of Kaepore and Belaspore, where the people depend entirely on tanks or streams for water, and will not use wells, even if they are provided for them. A tank, however, may be a fairly safe source of water-supply, if it does not receive the surface drainage of the town or village near which it is situated, if it retains a depth of water not less than 6 feet in the hot weather, if it is faced with masonry so that the water is $eep at the place where the people draw water, and if the practice of bathing and washing clothes in it is not permitted. The Jooma talao at Nagpore is a \emarkable instance of this kin^L' 

Tanks formed for irrigation where the villages near which they may be situated are not dependent on them for water for domestic use, do not produce greater liability to cholera. 

262. The effect of rain-fall on the prevalence of cholera cannot be easily shown in a tabular form, for, as it affects only a condition that influences the manifestation of the disease, and probably has but little effect in the transmission of the infecting matter from place to place, excepting in so far as it affects traffic and intercourse, it cannot be shown how much the spread of the disease in a locality in a particular period is due to the diffusion of the infecting matter, and how much to the prevalence of the conditions under which alone it can take effect. ]for instance, in Table IV. the sudden increase in the number of villages attacked in the Sehora circle in the first ten days of June is not due to the rainfall registered, but to the out- break of cholera at Gurchapa (para. 154) and the consequent dispersion of the Bharatees assembled. 

263. Again, rain would have very a different effect according to the watersupply of the towns and villages exposed to infection ; its effect on. a stream or tank would depend greatly on the amount of the rain-fall in relation to the degree of the surface pollution of their banks ; where the water is derived from a surface well or from a well sunk in porous strata, the effect of rain would not be visible for many days or until a considerable quantity had fallen. Examples of the apparent effect of rain are shown in para. 106, and in the account given of the prevalence pf cholera in Nagppie city. 

264. In Statement IV. the rain-fall is tabulated with the number of villages attacked in each week during the rise and decline of the epidemic of 1868. In this year cholera had spread but little before rain fell ; but it would; appear that the heavy fall of rain registered at Jubbulpore e,arly in. Ju.ne was followed by an increase in the prevalence of cholera in the, 2nd and 3rd ten days over the trap formatioji of tl^e neighbouring tracts of Burailla and Burgee, where the water-supply is largely derived, from surface wells ; on the other hand, in Shaipqbrah and Patun, wnere most of the villages attached, derived tJ^eir supply from rivers and streams, tjhe progress of cholera was apparently qhecke^by the same fall of rain. Again, in the trap formation of Lucknadown, Keolaree, and Mundla, cholera^ did not. re,acl}, its maximum till after the heavy rain that fell over those tracts, of country in the middle of July. In. Patun, on the other hand, cholera reached its. maximum of prev^JepGe early in July, piior-to which there had beea qnly slight. sjiqwers A and subsided after the moderate fall of. rain which then fell. 

265. Statement V II, , however, shqws ; tl\aj;;t&e i^flfteftce. of rain oni the spread of cholera is comparatively slight and partial. la,. 1Q&9,. a., season ¦, o£ drought, when the country was more than usually parched, and where in some places even forest trees witfrere^ tba prevalence, of. cholera, in the greater numt&er of the districts^ qye^wkictt it/ spj^ad reached *¦ ita. maximum and haoY already 1 



75 

begun to decline before rain fell. In many districts, as those of the Nerbudda valley, where the water-supply is largely derived from streams, an acceleration of the decline is the only general effect apparent in the returns. In the districts of Raepore and Belaspore, where the water-supply is derived from tanks as well as from streams, though the decline of the epidemic was at first accelerated, there was subsequently in the end of July and August after continued rain an increase in the number ot villages attacked. In other districts there was little or no cholera before the rains set in, but towards the end of July and in August there was a marked rise in the number of places attacked. This course of events is most evident in the returns from Nagpore, Wurdah, Bhundara, Chanda, and Sunrbulpore. 

266. It may be observed that in these districts the total number of villages attacked was comparatively small, and the mortality, in proportion to the population, slight; and that the disease was more confined to the larger towns, having a wide area of polluted soil, and where the wells are liable to pollution by percolation of sewage matters from imperfect drains through porous strata. 

267. It may be said then that the general effect of rain on the prevalence of cholera in these Provinces is undoubtedly salutary. Its salutary action is more immediately evident in those tracts of country where the water-supply is chiefly derived from streams and tanks ; in tracts of country where the watersupply is derived from shallow wells, and where the soil and sub-strata are porous, the first effect of rain is to cause an increase in the prevalence of cholera, but when the several sources of water-supply have been fully replenished, cholera everywhere subsides. 

268. With regard to the character of the impurities in water that are connected with the manifestation of cholera, the descriptions given of the water-supply of the towns and villages where cholera prevailed, indicate that the noxious impurity is sewage or other decomposing animal organic matter. The villages that suffered in the greatest degree were all dependent on sources of water-supply more or less evidently liable to such kind of pollution. In the case of the larger rivers, there can be no doubt that the water was polluted by such matter to a terrible extent; and from what may be seen everywhere of the habits of the natives, and their carelessness (particularly of the lower castes) in this respect, there can be little doubt that the water of streams, tanks, and surface Wells, is very commonly polluted by sewage matters. There is, however, another mode 15y which the sources of the water-supply of the people may become impiregn^teS with putrifying animal matter. The tanks, surface wells, and even deep wells, that, are uncovered and open to the air and light, all swarm more or less with! animal life; and in the hot weather, when evaporation is excessively rapid, and the water in the several sources of supply is reduced to its lowest ebb, it is most probable that a large proportion of the insects and animalculse die and putrify. This would be particularly likely to happen in those surface wells and springs, where the quantity of water is so small that the mud at tHe bottom is disturbed: whenever water is drawn. 

269. It is a common practice with the natives to preserve large fish and turtles- in their tanks, and sometimes even in their wells, under the belief that they keep the water sweet. That the presence of fish in a tank keeps down the excessive increase of the lower forms of animal life, and in this way tends to preserve the purity of the water, is not unlikely; bat it is probable that in the very hot weather, and especially in seasons of drought, the destruction o£ insect" life may be more general than can be counteracted by such means; and that even the death of the fish themselves may add to ttue impurity of the water. If there were any connection, between the use of water rendered impure by such- means; andthe* prevalence, oft cholera,, we. should expect .to find that the disease would prevail 



76 

with the greatest intensity in those tracts of country in which the water-supply becomes most scanty in the hot weather, or where it is most commonly exposed to the influence of the sun and rapid evaporation, that the epidemic would reach its maximum when the temperature of the air was highest, and evaporation most rapid ; and that it would generally decline on the advent of the monsoon, or even as its approach was indicated by a change of wind, a lower temperature, in • creased moisture, and diminished evaporation. That such are the conditions that accompany the rise and decline of cholera in these Provinces, is made evident by the statistics given of the epidemics of the past two years, and the tables of atmospheric conditions that accompany them. 

270. In the hot weather of 1868 the water-supply of the country was more plentiful than usual, and was not generally liable to the form of pollution above described. The number of villages attacked by cholera before the rains was comparatively small ; several of the severest out-breaks, however, occurred at this time in villages in which extreme scantiness of water-supply was the chief insanitary condition. In 1869, a season of drought, by far the greater number of towns and villages are attacked in the hottest weather, and when the water-supply is lowest ; and the highest rate of mortality is attained in the districts of Kaepore and of Belaspore, where the water- supply is chiefly derived from shallow tanks or pools freely exposed to the influence of the sun and rapid evaporation. 

271. There is then reason to believe that when cholera occurs in the hot and dry weather the development of the disease is often due to the use of water rendered impure by the putrefaction of animal matter that has previously existed in the water. In the rainy season it is no doubt more commonly due to sewage matter conveyed into the drinking water by surface drainage or by percolation. 

272. Regarding the relation between the use of impure water and the development of cholera, there is no reason to believe that water impregnated with impurities of the kind above described, is ordinarily the exciting agent in the production of cholera, or the immediate cause of the disease. 

273. It is, indeed, not improbable that the excreta of patients suffering from the disease contain the infecting matter of cholera, and that the disease may be sometimes directly communicated by such matter being introduced into the drinking water ; but that cholera can be rapidly diffused over a wide area by such means, is scarcely possible; it is altogether improbable that in the large number of villages attacked during the dry weather of the present year choleraic excremental matter can have been introduced into the water-supply ; and the pollution of wells or other sources of supply by means of the vessels used in drawing water, I believe to be an accident that very rarely occurs. 

274. Many of the most severe out-breaks described in the report, as at Rana, Soonwarra, and Dunwahi, occurred under circumstances which afford no ground for suspicion that the water was subjected to such a form of pollution ; and it may be observed that, in all the instances given in the report in which severe cholera followed the arrival of persons from an infected locality, the water had been obviously impure or had been subject to sources of pollution prior to 

275. In many instances in which the appearance of cholera had been preceded by the pollution of the water by dead bodies thrown into the river, the disease did not break out in the population drinking the water until the arrival of an infected person. Thus at Pindrae (para. 105) the population had for many days been drinking the water of the Wyngunga, polluted with the bodies of the persons that died at Soonwarra ; but cholera broke out among them only on the arrival of a man from elsewhere suffering from the disease. In the instance of 



77 

Kutiaghat (para. 132), 16 bodies had been thrown into the Gour river above the point where the villagers drew their water between the end of June and 6th July. No case of cholera, however, occurred among the latter till the Bth July, after the arrival from the village of Tilheri of a woman suffering from the disease. Again, in the account given of the prevalence of cholera along the Hirun, subsequent to the pollution of the river by bodies thrown into it from Moorai, the same course of events is observable. At Dab nee and Kujooree, on the same bank of the river with Moorai, and in frequent communication with that village, the disease broke out within three or four days after the pollution of the water had been effected; but the villages on the opposite bank of the river were not attacked in consecutive order, and remained free for periods varying from one to three or four weeks. In the course of the Ist and 2nd weeks of July, as cholera broke out in the villages, on or near the banks, and the dead from each village were thrown into the river, the water in the portion below Kymore must have reached a horrible state of pollution. But here again the villages on the banks of the river did not suffer simultaneously. On the left bank, which bounds ohe populous tract of country of which Patun (where cholera had already appeared) 

is the centre, all the villages as far as Mala Khoord were attacked in the course of the Ist week of July. Lower down, among the villages of which Pepuria-Khas is the bazaar town, the disease did not spread till later ; and in certain villages on the right bank of the river, shut in between the unfordable river and the precipitous Bhanner range, and approachable only by the ferry at Bhyronghat, the appearance of the disease was delayed till quite the end of the month. 

276. It would appear then, that however impure the water used by a population may be, the communication of a special contagion is necessary before cholera will manifest itself ; that in fact an impure water is a predisposing cause, and not the exciting cause of cholera; and that in respect of the means by which it spreads, cholera does not differ from other infectious diseases; — that as small-pox manifests itself in persons in whom the susceptibility to the disease has not been modified by a previous attack or by vaccination, or as typhus fever attacks those in whom a predisposition to it has been induced by famine and over-crowding, so the contagion of cholera takes effect in individuals rendered susceptible to its influence by the reception into, or retention in the blood of excretal or other decomposed animal matter. 

9,77. With respect to the general population of this country, water impregnated with sewage or other animal matter in a state of decomposition is apparently the medium through which this predisposition to cholera is most commonly produced. It does not follow from this, however, that when cholera is epidemic we must expect to trace every case that occurs or even every out-break in a locality to the use of impure water. What is intended to be asserted is, that impure water is the most common predisposing cause, and that cholera will not prevail epidemically among the population of a tract of country where the watersupply is abundant and fairly protected from pollution. In individual cases and in bodies of men placed under peculiar and what may be called unnatural circumstances, other predisposing causes may be in operation. The great susceptibility to cholera of prisoners in former years appears to have been diminished by the improved sanitary condition of the jails, especially by the more strict application of the dry earth system of conservancy. The immunity from cholera enjoyed by Native troops, compared with European soldiers serving in the same station, so clearly shown in Dr. Bryden's Tables, can only be due to some particular condition in the life of the European soldier that renders him more susceptible of the choleraic influence. One of the most essential conditions of life in which the two classes differ is that of diet, and it is possible that the greater msceptibility of the Europeans to cholera may be induced by a too exclusive use of animal food in the season of the year when decomposition is most rapid, when less exercise is taken, and when the elimination of excretal material from the 



78 

278. With lcgard to other sanitary conditions that may favour the pro-: duction of a predisposition to cholera, it would appear from the description given of the sites of the towns and villages that suffered most severely that dampness or imperfect drainage will not greatly affect the prevalence of cholera, excepting in so far as obstruction to the drainage of a town may tend to endanger the purity of the water in the wells. 

279. The extent to which accumulations of filth and want of proper conservancy directly 'affect the prevalence of cholera, is not easily estimated, purity of water being so intimately dependent on cleanliness of surface; but I think it may be safely assumed that the mortality is greatly aggravated when cleanliness and conservancy are not attended to. 

The general immunity of the towns in the several districts compared with the villages, so remarkable in Tables VI. and IX. must I think be in a great measure attributed to the improvement in cleanliness and conservancy that have been effected more or less in all districts since 1865. As regards both the city and district of Nagpore, statistics show that the mortality from cholera in the epidemic of the present year has been little more than one-third of what occurred in 1865. 

Cleanliness of surface, however, will not avail to ward off cholera where the water-supply is impure. Neither at Saugor or Mundla has there been any lack of attention to conservancy arrangements, but in the last two years both these towns have been severely visited by cholera. Haepore, however, affords a more striking instance ; here the people had co-operated willingly with the local authorities, and it would be scarcely possible to bring a town into better order than I found Haepore when I inspected it in the end of April of this year. In the middle of May, however, cholera broke out, and in less than a month 600 persons were carried off out of a population of 17,000. 

280. It is not improbable that the greater mortality of the prisoners in our jails in former years may have been aggravated by over-crowding, but as regards the general population it does not appear that this insanitary condition has much effect on the prevalence of a mortality from cholera. In our densely crowded towns the ravages of cholera are not so great as in the villages, and though in some districts the villages also have their component houses packed together in a marvellous manner, this crowded condition w 7 as common alike to villages that suffered severely from cholera and to those that escaped. The villages, too, which as a rule were most severely visited w r ere the Gond villages, often containing less than 100 inhabitants, situated on the tops of the trap hills, and open to every wind that blows. 

281. The comparative prevalence and fatality of cholera among the different races and castes of which the native population is composed if it could be ascertained would I believe throw considerable light on the causes that induce a predisposition to the disease, but unfortunately statistics bearing on this point are wanting. The frequency with which a Aheer, a Dheemur, or a Gond was the first person attacked in a village is worthy of remark. As regards the Gonds, this was the case even in the district of Jubbulpore, where their number relatively to the rest of the population is small. Instances are also given in paras 163 and 211 where better castes of Hindoos experienced complete or comparative immunity, while the general population suffered severely. The Gonds are a hardy race, but they are under very few if any restrictions as regards food, and they are less cleanly in their habits than other natives. Dheemurs are a low caste, chiefly employed as fishermen and boatmen, and in the cultivation of the Singhara nut in the tanks that exist so near a large proportion of the villages. in the Jubbulpore district. The Aheers or herdsmen are a better caste, but. 



79 

they live much with their cattle, tending them in the fields and often drinking water from the same sources with them. 

282. On the point of the influence of age our statistics also fail, through not being sufficiently minute, they do not afford any satisfactory data. I believe, however, that children suffer in a large proportion, but that the young and ablebodied adults are not less amenable to the disease than the old and feeble. With regard to the relative liability to cholera of the two sexes, our statistics are not I think sufficiently accurate to allow of any reliable deduction being drawn. Taking the whole Provinces, in our annual statistics the rate of mortality in the two sexes stands in the relation of 45 and 55 per cent for the district of Seonee for 1868 ; the female mortality was 47 for Mundla, but for Jubbulpore it was only 43 per cent of the total deaths. I believe, however, that these figures are very far from a correct representation of the relative death-rates in the two sexes. The remarkable excess of mortality among females over that among males that has occurred in two successive epidemics in the city of Nagpore, I believe to be of common occurrence. From enquiries made on the spot from 27 villages I obtained the following results :—: — 

Total Excess of 

No. of villages, mortality. Males. Females. Females over Males. 

27 453 206 247 41 

These figures give a proportion of 45*5 males and 5 4 5 females in every 100 deaths, thus reversing the proportion shown in the district returns. In a large proportion of the 27 villages the mortality among males was the highest; the excessive mortality among the females occurred where the water-supply was derived chiefly from wells, but where there was also tank or river to which the women resorted for washing clothes. 

283. On the question of the contagiousness of cholera, there is I think abundant evidence that the disease is eminently contagious; that in respect of persons pi c isposed to the reception of the "contagion" it isas contagious as small-pox; but while the predisposition to small-pox is innate and common to all persons, until it has been neutralised by an attack of the disease itself or by vaccination, the predisposition to cholera is acquired, and the proportion of persons in whom it can be induced is limited, and depending chiefly on the intensity of the predisposing causes. It is probable that the predisposition to the disease may be rapidly acquired and as rapidly lost, all that is necessary being the presence in the system of animal organic matter in a septic condition. As an instance of the dependence for effect of the choleraic poison on the predisposition of the individual* exposed to its influence, I may refer to the account given of the out-break at Dunwahi (para. 126). Here, out of five persons employed in burying the bodies of the Gonds, two had come from a locality in which the water was fairly pure ; three had been habitually using water of the foulest description; — the first escaped, the latter all contracted the disease and died. They were not, however, the first to be attack 3d among the population to which they conveyed the infection, but two women, who it may be supposed had intensified the predisposition produced by the use of foul water, by a meal of fish in which (it being the hottest time of the year) decomposition had most probably commenced.* 

* The account of the out-break of cholera at Theydon Bois in Essex in 1865, referred to in the Bth and 9th Reports of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, affords a remarkable instance of the effect of impure water in rendering the system susceptible to the choleraic influence. The out-break occurred at an isolated farm-house. The head of the family and his wife after a fortnight's absence had returned home from Weymouth on the 25th September by way of Southampton. Cholera having appeared in the latter town eight days before, (the first appearance of cholera in the country) they had travelled to London by express train, and did not stop at Southampton, except during the ordinary halt of the train at the station. The day after reaching home the wife was seized with diarrhoea, the husband also suffered more or less from looseness of bowels left after an attack of vomiting and purging, which he had undergone 30 hours before leaving Weymouth. From the 28th September to the 6th October inclusive eight members of the family, including the head of the family and his wife, were attacked with cholera ; of these five died. Within the same period the family medical attendant and a labourer employed about the house were both seized, and both died. On the 10th October a woman who had asssisted in laying the corpse of the labourer was attacked, and died the next day ; finally a grand-child of this woman was seized on the 31st October and died in 36 hours. Subsequently it was discovered that the water of the well used by the family had been polluted by 



80 

284. On the question of the period occupied by the incubation of cholera, though precise information is rather wanting, there is sufficient evidence that the period varies from a few hours to two days. It does not, however, neces sarily follow that because a person who has been exposed to the contagion of cholera does not exhibit symptoms of the disease after a period of two days has elapsed he is no longer capable of communicating the disease ; the contagion, though it may have no effect on the individual, may continue for a longer period to clinsf to his person or clothes. 

285. The proportion of deaths to cases according to the returns, was in Seonee 66 per cent, in Jubbulpore 7T2. These figures probably approximate the truth; the rate of mortality among persons attacked, however, varies greatly in different villages. In many that I inspected two or three persons were pointed out as the sole survivors of from 30 to 40 attacked; in others, as at Ghunsore (para. 100), the large proportion that recovered had been noticed by the villagers themselves. 

286. The duration of the epidemic in different towns and villages varied greatly. In the large towns, as in Jubbulpore and Saugor, though it never assumed any great proportion, it continued to prevail for several months ; in the villages, however, the duration was comparatively short, — some appear to have passed through the ordeal in from three or four days to a week, but the more common periods ranged from a fortnight to three weeks. 

The town of Mundla in the present year afforded a remarkable instance of the occasionally rapid rise and decline of cholera. Here, in the first week of the epidemic the deaths amounted to 13, and in the second week they rose to 80, 

287. In illustration of several of the points above adverted to, I may here recount the circumstances of an out-break of cholera reported by the Deputy Commissioner of Chindwara, and verified by him at the time :—: — 

On the 23rd April a woman left the town of Saosur to go to the village of Jhilmillee, 17 miles distant. Cholera had appeared at Saosur previously, and it is said that the woman herself had shown symptoms of the disease before she left; at any rate she arrived at Jhilmillee shortly before sunset with the disease fully developed. She did not enter the village, but lay down at a well 50 yards outside, where she died. The Kotwal buried her that night, and the next day he, his son, and his daughter were all seized and died in a few hours. On the same and following days (24th and 25th) 29 persons were attacked, of whom 27 died on these dates. On the 26th a general flight from the village took place, and it does not appear that any died subsequently. On the 27th the Malgoozar, who lived in another village, hearing of the out-break, went to enquire, when he found the village deserted, with the exception of two women who were ill, and who died that night. He at once reported the matter to the Police. On the 30th the Circle Inspector, with a Native Doctor sent by the Deputy Commissioner, arrived, and found that the people had returned; and no case had occurred since their return. The Inspector described the village as in a very filthy state ; the only water which the villagers used was that of the well at which the women 

leakage from a sink drain and the soil pipe of the water closet. The contamination of the well water was not of recent date. Early in June the head of the family had consulted a medical practitioner in London, he was then suffering from obstinate indigestion and irregularity of bowels, particularly a desire to go to stool immediately aftm* taking food, and his health had been disordered for months. As the wife and her mother were suffering from the same symptoms, the medical practitioner suspected the water used by the family might be impure, and on a specimen being subjected to chemical analysis this was found to be the case. Notwithstanding this discovery, the faith ot' the family in the goodness of the water was not shaken, and they persisted in its use till the out-break of cholera. On the recommendation of their medical adviser, the head of the family and his wife had visited Weymouth ; it would appear, however, from the former having suffered from an attack of bowel-complaint shortly before leaving Weymouth, that the change had not been sufficiently continued to remove the effects of the long continued use of impure water, and it would appear also that in consequence of the extreme susceptibility to cholera produced by this cause, that the pair had become infected with the disease while passing through Southampton. 



81 

died \ it was a surface well, without masonry, under a mango tree, the roots of which went into the water, which was full of decayed leaves and animalculge, and foul and offensive. The village of Jhilmilleo is in the circle of Oomurwara (shown in the map), in the trap formation; the population was 125; of those who died, 9 were men, 15 women, 2 boys and 3 girls. Here the disease broke out within 24 hours, — probably in less than 18 hours after the importation of the contagion, — and by the time 48 hours had elapsed 23 per cent of the population had been carried off; the disease then ceased. The fact of the woman having died at the well affords ground for presuming that the water had been contaminated, and had thus become the medium by which the contagion was communicated to the villagers. 

There is, however, no proof that this had happened; and it must be borne in mind that the water on which the people had been dependent was foul and offensive prior to the imjDortation of the contagion. 

288. The facts detailed in the foregoing report appear to me to warrant the following conclusions :—: — 

Ist. — That for the production of cholera two conditions are necessary, — the 

presence of a special contagion, and a susceptibility to its influence 

on the part of the parson to whom the contagion is applied. 

2nd. — That with respect to the origin of the epidemic of 1868, the evidence 

is in favour of the contagion having been brought from elsewhere, rather than that it was generated in the localities where the disease first 

broke out. 

3rd. — That the subsequent diffusion of the contagion was effected solely by means of human intercourse. 

4>th. — That a high temperature and extreme dryness are no obstacles to the diffusion of the contagion. 

sth. — That with respect to the general population of the country the imbi- 

bition of water containing animal organic impurities is the most common means by which personal susceptibility to the effects of the con- 

tagion is induced. 

289. The measures required to prevent or diminish the frequenc}*- of the recurrence of epidemic cholera in these Provinces, and the mortality which it occassion* are of two kinds, — 

Ist. — Measures to be undertaken with the view of preventing the diffusion of the contagion and — 

2nd. — Measures for the removal of the conditions under which the personal susceptibility to the contagion is induced. 

Under the first class would be included the prevention of assemblies at fairs or for pilgrimages, by the dispersion of which cholera may be diffused throughout the country, and the establishment of quarantine, and such like measures, for preventing the transmission of the contagion from one locality to another. 

290. In 1 865 the assemblage of the fair at Mahadeo, from which in that and the former year cholera had been diffused through the country, was prohibited. The exact effect of this measure cannot be easily estimated; but it may be safely said that the epidemics that have since arisen have been less rapidly diffused over the country, and that to this cause is in a measure due the diminished rate of mortality that in the present year has boen the lot of several districts, 



82 

especially that of Nimar, where it would appear that the conditions favourable for the spread of cholera commonly prevail to the greatest extent in the early months of the year. 

291. If it is the case (and there can be little doubt that it is so) that cholera is diffused chiefly if not solely by means of human intercourse, it must be obvious that the establishment of an effective quarantine would be a measure of the greatest utility. The difficulties, however, of rendering quarantine efficient, so as to render communication between one tract of country and another, are insurmountable; and as an ineffective quarantine is worse than useless, it is not advisable to attempt it with reference to the general population. In the case of jails or establishments similarly isolated, where there is a chance of its being applied with success, it should be carried out with as great rigour as the circumstances W ill TT\ C± T*TYI I f* »V ill Uul .LLI-L y t 

992. Of the other class of preventive measures against cholera, viz., measures directed to the removal of the conditions under which the personal reception of the contagion is induced, the facts detailed throughout the report show that measures for the general improvement of the water-supply of the people throughout the country are the most essential. Strict attention to conservancy and general cleanliness must form an important part of any general measures of improvement ; but the ultimate end to be attained is a plentiful supply of water, safe from contamination with animal matter. 

293. The difficulties in the way of improvement will vary greatly in different tracts of country. In the trap formation the nature of the rock will always prove an obstacle to obtaining w T ater from deep wells. In the sandy deposits in the neighbourhood of Jubbulpore the danger of impurities reaching the water in the wells by percolation through the soil can only be obviated by .strict attention to conservancy rules ; but everywhere perhaps the greatest obstacle to improvement, will be the w T ant of co-operation by the people themselves. Frequent inspections and warnings will bo required before natives will be induced to forego the habit of fouling the ground in the neighbourhood of their water-supply, or where two sources of supply are available, to choose the safest. 

294. That much good may be effected by simple and ordinary measures of precaution, the general immunity of the towns in which the conservancy rules issued in 1865 have been carried out, and the diminished mortality in the city and district of Nagpore during the last two epidemic seasons, compared with the epidemic season of 1865, may be fairly cited aa proof; and such an amount of success affords good, ground for concluding that if the same measures, and others jnore especially directed to the improvement of the water-supply of the people, were systematically applied to all the towns and villages in each district, the mortality from a pestilence which now so frequently devastates this Province would be reduced to a minimum. The success, however, of any measures that may be adopted will depend very much upon the extent to which the people can be brought to co-operate in carrying them out; it is therefore of great importance not to discourage them by attempting too much and aiming at a higher standard of conservancy and purity of water than is absolutely necessary to the attainment of the end in view. 

295. The fact so plainly apparent in the Statements appended, that in all districts by far the larger proportion of the villages escaped cholera altogether, indicates that the remedy cannot be very difficult of application, and that no very minute precautions are necessary. ]ij the course of my investigations in the cholera area of 1868 1 did not meet with an instance where a mortality from cholera approaching 1 per cent of the population occurred in a village in which the sole source of water-supply was a well 30 feet deep, situated well away from 



83 

nullahs and tanks that collect surface drainage, lined with masonry, in good repair, with a coping well raised above the surface of the ground, and containing four feet of water in the hot weather. I should fix this as the standard of water-supply to be aimed at for villages, the number of such wells to be in the proportion of 1 for every 150 or 200 of the population. The situation in which such a well would be safe from pollution by percolation would vary according to the character of the soil and sub-soil in which it might be sunk. In blacksoil or alluvial clay safety from percolation may be readily ensured. In porous soils or sub-strata greater care in the selection of the site would be necessary. 

In the smaller tow T ns and larger villages the wells most used might be advantageously fitted with pumps. The chain pump described in para. 17 of Colonel Hodgson's Report to the Government of the North-Western Provinces would be most suitable for this purpose ; and if the use of pumps of this kind could be established in some cf the Municipal towns of each district, the example might in time be more generally followed. 

296. To attain this standard in tracts of country where the sub-strata are composed of hard rock, assistance by advances would be necessary, but perhaps in all cases, the villagers might be called upon to supply the labour. In the case of small villages in the trap country, where a good water-supply is not readily obtainable, the villages might be removed. The Gonds, the chief inhabitants of these tracts, often desert their villages for a less cause. In some situations, as on the banks of the larger rivers, a w T ater-supply from wells is not attainable; and here it would be necessary to depend on the observance of conservancy rules, which in future must be more strictly enforced in all villages wherever situated. 

297. In large towns built on porous sub-strata, such as Nagpore and Jubbulpore, where the water in the wells becomes scanty in the hot weather, and where the sources whence the wells may become polluted by percolation are numerous, there can be no safety except in a water-supply brought from a distance by impervious pipes. 

At Saugor it is pcssiblo that its fine lake might be rendered a safe source of water-supply by carefully preventing the entrance of any of the surface drainage of the town or station, and a minute survey of the whole locality should be made with this view. 

298. The publication of rules regarding conservancy, and issuing instructions regarding the water-supply, w r ill do but little to improve the condition of the villages; as much good as can be expected from such measures, has been already attained in the greater number of the districts. To oppose effectually the prevalence of cholera, it is necessary to place the villages of every district under systematic intelligent supervision. For some years, at least, and especially in those districts which are most liable to be over-run by cholera, the sanitary condition and water-supply of each village should be reported on annually. The work of annually inspecting the different villages might be entrusted to Native Inspectors, provided they wers subject to frequent European supervision; but this additional duty could scarcely be imposed on present establishments. 

299. In this report I have referred only incidentally to the epidemic that has devastated the Provinces in the present year, and I defer giving a detailed account of it until I have inspected the districts which it has visited with the greatest severity. I however append Tables showing the rise and decline of the epidemic, with the atmospheric conditions by which it was accompanied, and also the mortality which it occasioned in the different districts, because they in a great degree support the deductions that I have drawn from the facts of the epidemic of the previous year, and because the figures given in these Tables afford the strongest 



84 

possible evidence that measures directed to the mitigation of the ravages committed by cholera in these Provinces are, of all others, most urgently called for. The fact that upwards of 47,000 persons have been carried off by cholera in the course of four months, in a country where the greatest obstacle to progress is the scanty population, alone demands that measures should be taken to prevent as far as possible the future recurrence of this devastating pestilence. 

300. The gross figures, however, by no means give an adequate idea of the fearful severity with which individual villages have been visited. Judging by the weekly reports furnished to me from the different districts, such catastrophies as that which befel the villages of Soomvarra (para. 102) and Jhilmillee (para. 287), and even far worse, must have been of frequent occurrence in several districts. In the village of Pepureea-Chuka, in the district of Dumoh, 1 22 persons were carried off in the course of a fortnight from a population of 370. In Betaspa, a village in the Belaspore district, out of a population of ] SO, 105 died in one week; and similar instances appear in the returns from the district of .Raejiore. 

301. How far the mortality from cholera may have been aggravated by insufficiency of food will form the subject of future enquiry; but the returns rather indicate that scarcity of food has but little connection with the prevalence of cholera. In the Jubbulpore district, for instance, cholera has fallen lightly on the famine-stricken northern sub-division of Moorwarra, compared with the rich alluvial pergunnah of Patun and the Jubbulpore Havelle. 

In the district of Kaepore, also, according to the returns, cholera has not fallen with the greatest severity on the sub-divisions that have been most affected by scarcity of food. Again, in the rich alluvial district of Nursingpore, where labour was abundant and scarcity not felt, the epidemic attained the most general diffusion ; on the other hand, the district of lihundara, where scarcity, if not famine prevailed, has suffered but lightly from cholera. 

302. Statement No. IX. also shows great variations in the prevalence of the disease in different districts, — in Saugor and Nursingpor-e the proportion of villages attacked was very high, while the ratio of mortality to the population of the villages attacked was not above the average. 

On the other hand, in the districts of Mundla, Belaspore, and Raepore, the percentage of villages attacked was comparatively small, but the ratio of nior- 

303. On referring to the Table of atmospheric conditions appended to Statement No. VIII. it will be observed that in by far the greater number of districts the epidemic attained its greatest height in a period of excessive heat and dryness, and the commencement of its decline coincided with a modification of these conditions. In some districts, however, as in Bhundara, Chanda, and Sumbulpore, the disease did not appear at all till after heavy and continued rain. In Nimar, though the disease appeared very early in the season, it ceased to prevail in the hot weather, and again became prevalent in a slight degree when the rains had well set in; while the districts of Chindvvara and Baitool have experienced almost complete immunity throughout the season. 

304. The causes of the great variations in the prevalence of the disease can only be ascertained by a study of the soils, sub-strata and water-supply that prevail in the different tracts of country; and in the course of the ensuing cold weather I hope to carry out in other districts the village inspection which was commenced last year, and which has furnished matter for this report. 

305. Hereafter also more detailed statements will be given, which will I hope afford much additional information regarding the recurrences and prevalease 



85 

of cholera in different tracts of country, aad annng different classes of the population; but the returns received this year are very voluminous, and with the small establishment at ray disposal considerable delay in compiling the required abstracts is unavoidable. 

:iO6. In conclusion, I beg to record my thanks to Colonel Dennys, to Major Play fair, to Captain Ward, and Captain Loch, for the assistance rendered me in my inspection, of their several districts, and for the statistics with which they furnished me. 

The Statements and the map drawn out by Colonel Dennys, showing the prevalence of cholera in the different parts of the Seonee district, have been particularly useful. I have also to think Mr. Oldham, the Superintendent of tho Gaological Survey of India, for the geological sketch maps that he was good enough to forward to me ; they have been of the greatest possible assistance to me in my investigations, and have enabled me to show in the Map that accompanies this report the relative prevalence of cholera in the different geological formations. 

To Dr. Trimnell, Dr. Rice, and Dr. Barter, I am indebted for the meteorological observations that have enabled me to show the atmospheric conditions that prevailed during the rise and decline of the epidemic. 

S. C. TOWNSEND, 

Sanitary Commissioner, 

Central Provinces and Bemvs, 





STATEMENT No. I. Abstract of Meteorological observations taken at Nagpore during the months of April, May, June, July and August 1868. m, , Thermometer 6 l nermo. er inches below Hygrometer. Wind. Rain. « m air - ground 10 A. M. 4 P. M. £ I « Irf 1 lo J 9 I Remarks. Inches. 0000 o o o Miles Ins. Ins. Means of— Ist 10 days .. 25740 100- 736 87' 83 6 87" 23- "31 29 23 E., W. 87 H „ 2nd 10 days ..28654 106" 805 931 89 1 91- 25- -29 31 19 W.,5.W.,N.W. 98 | „ 3id 10 days .. 28034 1041 78" 91" 88- 90' 29" "23 34 16N.W.,N. 134 April ..28-677 103 1 773 903 80-91 89-3 26-4 -27 31 -19 N.W.&W.byN. 100 Means of— Ist 10 days ... 2S-Gl4 10S 1 80\i 94-3 90-2 92- 31" 19| 36 14 N.W7N. 176 ••• 2nd 10 days ...28015 109*5 81*6 95*5 934 953 28- -25 36 -155. W., N. W. 120 % „ Remaining days ...28501 108 3 803 94a 952 1 97- 27* -31 37 17 3.W., N. 115 .. 0 65 0 65 May .. 28-586 103-6 8!)-sj 94t[ 92"9 94"7 28"6 -25 36 | 15 N.W., N.W. 137 1 065 065 Means of— Ist 10 days ...1 28471 9571 76;7 862 874 S'^To"- -(j4 12 ttOlR, S., W. 108 8,076 2 40 „ „ 2nd 10 days ...J28540 92*1 767 84*4 824 82-5 110 1 10- -62 13 -55W. 3 N.W. • 199 5 T34 T6O g ? 3rd 10 days .. 23569 980 797 890 867 874 114 1 14- -49 22 '34 W., N.W. 184 __^ June ... 28-527 85 5 86o'll- -58 15 -49 W., N.W. 163 13 1 34 4 00 Means of— Ist 10 days ... 28582 100* 79791' 891 90- 17- 7WTI 7 WTl :37[W., : 37[W., N.W. 159 4 0150 15 019 £ „ 2nd 10 days .. 28*533 894 74*582' 833 835 5- 78 6 75 W.,N.W.,5.W. H7 9 0 75 3"04 g „ Remaining days ... 28582 84-6 74-380" 792 797 6' -81 7 '74W.,N,W.,W . 162 8 2-59 5"64 ' July .. 28566 91*3 7G1 843 83-9 84-4 9' -68 11 -62iW.,N.W.,5.W. 146 21 2-59 8-87 Means of— Ist 10 days " .. 28498 86"5 75- 1 818 79*3 M' 515 1 77^ 7 7311N.VV., ii.W. T7si V^Fl iT^ g „ 2nd 10 days .. 28 591 86' 734 797 79*0 80- 6- 72 1 -66 W.,S.W, N.W. 124 6 04 047 g „ Remaining days ... 28*498 90- 73' 815 801 81"3 5- -64 15 -51 N.W.,N.E.,W. 158 .. August— 28-52.91 875 738 si* 794 BQ-4 5- 71 7 -63N.W.,W.,5.W. 152 11 277 4-66 





STATEMENT No. 11. 

STATISTICS of CLIMATE. 

Abstract of Register of rain-fall 

Rain-fall, — Inches Mean of' former j 1867. 1868, years. \ Trans- Nerhudda Districts. Saugor .. ..... .. ... .. 48-0 7l'o\ 310 Dumoli .. ... .. .. .. 43-8 80*0 232 Nerbudda Valley Districts. Jubbulpore . . . . . . . . 54-5 73-0 28-3 Nursing-pore .. .. .. .. .. 51*1 78*5 17-6 Hoshungabad .. .. ... ... ••• 44s| 72*0 29$ ... .. .. ... . . So recovd - \ 520 38 0 Sautpoora Hill Districts. ¦Mundla ... .. .. .. .. 550; GG'O 307 Balaghat .. .. ... .. .. . . 02-0 37-4 Seonee .. ... ... .. ... 496 52*0 314 Chindwara .. .. .. .. .. 45*5 480 257 Baitool ... ... .. ... ... 49-5 G5"O 207 Nagpore Plain Districts. Kagpore ... .. ... ? .. 400 SS'O 25-0 Bhundara ? ... .. ... .. 43-0 560 29*8 Chanda ... ... .. .. .. 44\S Ga'O 345 Wurdah .. ... ... .. ... 39*0 51*0 287 Chuteesgurh Plateau Districts. Raepore ... .. ... .. .. 525 435 35'S Belaspore .. ... .. .. „. 370 370 29-0 Sumbulpore .. .. ... ... ... 49*3 438 Upper Godavery District. Seroncha .. .. .. .. .... 47-0 48"0 307 Mean .. 473 593 300 





STATEMENT Ho. 111. 

Shelving dally rain-fall over the districts of Seonee and Jubbulpore during the epidemic of 1868. 

May. Juxe. July. August. 11l II • 1 I'll II I 1 I 1 | I i 1 I 1 § § I J §S^J 1 O'2P 2 j 0-03 0-02 0"27 o'9o 0-02 3 1-20 0-9S 1-20 .. 0-30 ? I 4 0-02 .. | .. 0-07 ? ... I ... 0-06 0-23 5 0-56 030 0-32 0-28 0-03 6 .... 0-30 0-10 0-17 .. .. 0-G0 1-23 0-89 083 7 1-00 0-06 .. 0-43 .. 0-410-14 0-10 090! O'Ssl 0"21 033 8 0-70 0-11 0-82 003 o*4o 0*42 l'2o .. 9 0-30 MO 3-.51 0-33 020 0*42 .. 1-30 0-30 1 018 10 0-GO .. 2-01 0-58 030 1*55 039 O.SO O'iO ? o'l4 .. "ll 0-59 0-12 2-00 0-53 12 0-30 .. 0-04 092 l'sO 0"96 026 13 .. .. o'2o 0-90 0-82 0-97 14 O'lO 018 .. 0-40 0-18 ... 0-S3 15 0-70 .. 0-34 0-26 16 ' ... 0-60 0-SO .. 0-30 0-02 17 040 1-23 0-54 022 ... 002 18 0-10 ... 004 19 0-10 2-74 20 0-25 0-60 0-17 .. 0-48 2] 072 1-13 003 22 •• .. 3-90 0-49 0-30 o'7o 23 0-20... 0-07 ... 0-20 o*lo 0-20 002 133 24 0-11 .. 0-54 0-64 I*o7 1*93 25 0-20 ... o*o3 .. 0-10 .. 0-16 0"73 2G 030 0-44 0-30 0-02 ... o'Bo O'lO I'OG 27 0-02 0-10 .. 0-08 0-02 28 0-10 O-GO 0-07 043 29 0-37 .. . . 0-80 0-54 .. 30 10-20 OIL 1-30 31 .. .. .. .. .. 0-20 0-GO .. 0-110*90 0*42 ... 0-03 Total.. 0-20 .. 0-32 013 5-50 3-36 9*34 3*ol 13*00 1065 5*99 13*49 4-50 4"29 425 T95 (Note, — The several Stations are in a line running South to North, and 40 miles apart.) 





STATEMENT No. IV. Showing rise and decline of ' cholerx in 1363, and rain-fall durinj the s:ime period. May. Juxe. July. August. September. J3 Ist 10 2nd 10 j Last 11 1Q d 2]ld 1(( daiJS Last 10 days - st 10 dayB ' ;2 »d 10 days ] Last 11 cZays Ist 10 days 2n<Z 10 days\Last 11 day« l. s { 10 days "I ( Kuttunghee a. .. 3 052 7 4-52 G T42 5 070 1 0" 21 - 4 8-23 6 832 1207 2 C"24 .. 0"75 .. 26 97 35 qpoKPn- -J Seonee 6 - •• 2 ? 25 397 13 0-50 1 0-70 2 190 6 G"7O 9 5-10 2 li*o .. ..4 01-2 20 89 04 bEONEB ..< Keolareec _ ¦•; ## x ;; l 0 2 5 j >b 13 17 € o .. i 57 I Lucknadown & 2 •• 5 .. 8 2*28 11 010 9 098 1 255 8 469 19 3-41 9 3 07 8 .. 6 122 4 040 .. 1870 90 " Koondum c. .; ? 7 4 .. 3 .. 1 .. 2 .. 1 .. 6 .. 6 ... 30 Burgee/. .. .. .. 7 .. 4 .. 8 .. 2 ... 7 .. -. 1 •• * •• 7 40 Baraillagr. .» .... .. 3..1.. 13 ... 11 •3..2. 4 ? 37 JubbuJporefc i 0-07 2 634 6 0*63 7 097 13 040 13; 189 9 3 32 13 357 7 0-14 .. 0-54 1 032 .. 18-19 72 JtBBULPOEE..-{ Shaiporah i. ....!.. 2 .. 5 ... 2 .. g .. 9 . 12 ... 5 .. 5 .. 1 .. 1 51 I PaLtuuj. .. 7 .. 2 ... 4 ... 16 .. 1 ... 3 .. 1 .. 3 37 I Kuttunghee^. .. ..... 3 4 .. 4 ( .. 4 1 4 ... 20 I Sehora I. .. .. .... 275 21 112 5 .. 4 T74 8 5-12 13] 3 02 13 0 61 6 0 01 6 ; .. '. 2 .. 1 14-37 7!) I Sleemanabadm 013 ... 195 2 TO4 ... 0-02 .. 220 ... 483 2i 646 8 1-62 1 0-30 2 o'o3 .. 2 18-58 21 (_ Moorwarra n. . . .. .. 1 3 .. 1 . 1 .. 5 .. 3 I .. -i . . 6 .. 2 .. '26 MUNDLAH .. Mundlah 0. ... 010 3 230 5 0 90 19 1-10 8 110 21550 13 350 271 620 5 060 3 1-4 040 1 22 90 113 NURSINGPORE. Chindwarajp. .. ... ... 030 ... 163 ... 024 4 014 2 006 2 4*70 5 211 310 2 043 .. \{jo^ 1123 18 I ! I I l , l Mean of rain-fall and total villages attacked .. .. 9 ... 17 0 22 68 321 82 074 79 066 69 126 113 520 125 4-40 111251 41 029 32 0*56 28 04 16 1898 790 a. Wells and streams. i. Wells and tanks, and Hirun and Nerbudda rivers. b. Wells, surface wells, and Hirun river. j. Hirun river, streams and wells. c. Surface wells and Sagur river. k. Hirun rive*: and wells. d. Do. and streams . I. Streams, wells and tanks. c. Do. do. m. Wells and Katna river. /. Streams and surface wells. n. Do.. do. and stream*. g. Stream and surface wells. o. Surface vrells and streams. A. Wells and tanks. V- Wells and »treama. 





STATEMENT No V 

Showing mortality from cholera in several gangs of coolies employed on the road between Nagpore and Jubbulpore, 1868. Strength of . -3 GANO. H^J ;| Miles from Jubbulpore. Locality. __ case ' jj* 53 Water supply. Remarks. LocaL r " rdes - I" 1 see j2j 6th mile. Goareeghat 350 ... 15th May. 25 18 Nerbudda, Dispersed 23rd Ma)'. 9th and 10th' do. ; 120 ... .. ... .. .. Lived in the neighbouring villages. 13th and 14th' do. Khumureab 160 ... .. Well. 15th and 16th do. 450 .. ••• .. .. .. Dispersed. 17th and 18th do; ' Guina 180 .. .. )~ . t. J 4- V Gujna river. Do. 19th mile- 111 ... ... ..' *. ... Do. 23rd do. Shere river 150 ••• .. .. ... Do. 24th,, 25th aftd 1 „ Tr 1T 275 . . 29th April. . . 41 Terya nullah. 26th mile. J" Hoolkee Valley 275 3rd M^ 46 35 33rd do. Burbuttee nullah 30 15th do. 2 1 Nullah. 65 ... ... .. ... Do. Dispersed 20th April. 39th do; Goorooala 70 ... ... .. ? \WII\ W11 Do. do. 60 -. .. .. Jwell'J we11 ' 42nd do. Shere 80 .. ... .. ... .. Do. do. 44th do. Poorwa 96 12th May. 3 1 Surface well. Moved after attack 48th do. Lucknadown 70 ... •• •« ... ... Dispersed 20th April 5 Ist do. Choonabuttee 75 ... 4th May. ? ... Jeerah on bor- Dispersed after attack der of pool. • . 56th do. Gunneshgiinj 233 sth May. 63 40 Nullah. Bigna Nuddee 55 ... .• ... .. .. Lived in neighbouring villages. Gunneshgunj 411 16th April 34 24 Do. Mooteya nullah 125 ... ... .. .. 80. Do. do. * &>th do. Chupera vicinity. 76 19th May. 19 15 Surface well in bed of nullah. 44 . • . . . . Do. do. 55 .. 21st May. .. 9 Do. do. 43 ... .. ... ... W}megunga. 40 . .. ... .. ... Dispersed 25th May 64th and 6^th mile. Ohuperah and Saduk Seonee. 700 ... Ist June; ? 3 Nullah. Gangs dispersed. 69th mile.- Raywarrah. 200 ... 7th June. 6 6 Surface spring. 7lst do. Narraingunj. 500 ... ... ... .. Well. 75tbdo. Bundole. 200 .. .. ... Surface well and tank. 78th do. Soonadongree; 300 .. 16th May. .. .. Nullah. Gangs dispersed. 80th do. Misciah. 700 ... .. .. Do. do. cholera severe. 85th do. Seonee. 97th do. Mohgaon. 1 250 . . .. | Well. Laterite. Sooktullah. J .. ... .. .. Do. Do. 102 nd mile. Rookur and Doodia tank. 900 .. 15th May. ... 30 Tank. Half of coolies dispersed 106 th do. Korai. 250 .. 21st do. ... 17 do. 114 th do. Kowassah. 200 .. 3rd June. ... 3 do. 124 th do. Dewlapar. 100 ? 23rd May. .. 12 do. 133 rd do. Chorbowly. 200 .. 26th July. .. 2 do. 139 th do, Munsur. 50 .. .. Tank and wells. 141 st do. Amree. 100 ... 26th July. ... 2 Not known. Local coolies. 7,124 143 Purdessee do. 1,270 107 110 





STATEMENT No. IX. 

Shelving mortality from Cholera in the Central Provinces during the epidemic 

of 1869. i ill i h a i* - ii i§ 19 1 TOWN or DISTRICT. «-;g T| •* rt J3 p<« &S *| r II i i£ I* il i 11 li £____! P_ \ rii _J g » It r_ f Sfuigor ... .. T 1 24,315 ] .. 24,315 570 23 23 | Do. District .. .. 1,735 455,330 7G4 44"0 2.94,372 6,939 2-3 I's IRANB-JNER- . Do Cantonment .-• li 18,997 1 .. 18,997 141 o'7 o'7 bluda. j Uunioh pi # T j ] 7,91-1 1 ... 7,911 154 19 li) j Do. District I 1,030 254,730 307 298 141,198 3,0()G 21 11 > Jubbulpore ... ff 1 4.1,059 i ... 41,659 407 o*9 0-9 Do. District 2,374 505,079 4<G3 19*5 105,747 4,043 B*4 o*7 Do. Cantoutnent .. 1 12,803 1 .. 12,869 39 o*3 03 "Nerbudda NumnpporeandKuudekeT 1 9,304 l .. 9,304 118 I' 2 12 Valley, i Do. District 908 327,492 392 40-5 187,705 4,176 2*2 12 Hoshungfibad .. T 1 12,883 1 ... 12,883 1901 l'o 15 Do. District 1,134 414,535 241 21 -2 107,723 2,105 2'o Q-§ { Nimar District 727 226,939; 73 7*9 100,220 493 03 o*2 f Mundia .. .. T 1 4,166 1 ... 4,IGC 116 27 27 | Do. District 1,500 199,704) 203 13-4 35,188 2,628 74 14 | Balaghat District ••• .. 1,021 170,934 6] 5*9 29,923 322 VI 02 .'.bAUTPOORA Seonee .. .. T 1 10,021 1 .. 10,021 124 11 11 11ILL - Do. District 1,095 411,029 208 12-2 71,188 1,931 27 04 ; Chindwara District .. 2,093 327,875 23 11 24,884 98 o'4 0-03 Baitool District .. .. 1,072 244,854 GO B6 19,578 237 I*2 o'o9 | Nagpore .. .... T 1 85.601 1 .. 85,001 391 o'4 0"4 j Kamptee., .. T 1 50,930 1 ... 50,930 JOl o'3 03 ! Nagpore District .. .. 1,583 497,530 110 7"0 98,358 570 0-5 01 Nagpore I Bhundara .. T 1 13,383 1 .. 1.3,383 177 13 1-3 Plain. Do. District .. .. 1,771 595,097 73 41 73,101 GOO 08 01 I Chanda .. .. T 1 ls.JOfi 1 ... 18,700 279 1/4 1-4 | Do. District .. .. 2,426J 518,5^9 38 1-5 32,855 317 09 00G J Wurdah District 880 343,485 80] Q'Q 41,828 591 1-4 01 f Raepore .. .. T 1 l(i,810 1 ... 16,810 GOO 35 35 CHtfTTESS- ( Do. District .. .. 3,209 935,944 493 150 187,431 7,930 4"2 oB gukh Pla- <( Belaspore . .. T 1 6,1,90 ] .. 0,190 98 I*s I's TEAU. ( Do. District .. .. 3,135 093,278 458 14-0 151,843 7,701 5 0 11 (^ Sumbulpore District .. 1,095 452,348 38 2-2 11,417 524 4"5 01 Total .. (30,135 7,909,801 4,100 23*6 2,169,084.' 47,848 2*2 O-Q 



STATEMENT No. VIII. Showing progress and decline of Cholera Epidemic of 1869 m the Central AruiL. May. June- March, " ¦ ' — ' Weeks ending Weeks ending Weeks ending 10th 17th 24th Ist May Bth 15th 22nd 29th sth 12th 19th 26th 3rd — _ _ Topographical TOWN or DISTRICT. llllll'l'llll * 1 11 1 111' ill I I * II % fill I 1 I I I 1 I 1 f ! t 1 ! ! ! ! I I t ! f ! f I ! tlHJlijiH H 1 j I ) H 11 I H H i f Saugor ... .. T 1 .... 2.. 3: ... 4.. 49 .. 37 .. 27 .. 21 .. 21 .. j »..„.«_ | Do. District .. ..18 ... 1 8 9 5 34 19 63 17 118 37 187 49 350 94 615 99 875 134 1,151 101 966 61 7 ir^A i Do - Cantonment - 1 9 ... 16 ... 17 ... 30 ... 9.. 7.. 3.. budda. j l> umo h .. ... T 3 1 2 ... 8.. 53 .. 51 .. 21 ? 5 1 ... '. Do. District :.. .. 5 20 12 5 11 79 14 179 31 101 20 248 25 302 55 219 19 507 26 300 40 301 18 > Jubbulpore ... T 1 8 ... 15 .. 50 ... 41 .. 51 .. 38 .. 33 ... 27 .. 34 .. 16 .. 21 .. Do. District 13 27 28 75 18 109 17 118 23 245 35 294 33 292 52 488 88 593 61 543 36 514 29 244 8 1 Do. Cantonment • 1 1 •• 5 ... 6.. 7.. 2.. 8... 8.. 1 ... 1 Nerbudda Nursingpore .. T ... 11 7 .. 12 ... 9 .. 24 .. 52 .. 10 .. 3 Valley. \ Do. District 23 192 24 121 12 71 7 167 16 99 19 270 85 857 78 662 50 690 33 536 17 185 13 I Hoshungabad .. T 1 8 ... 57 .. 4o .. 28 .. 18 .. 7 •• 3.. 14 .. 13 .. I Do. District 12 57 15 63 4 37 12 97 12 19 19 192 43 332 35 311 37 294 16 195 6 ll Nimar District 58 292 .. 13 .. 40 .. 26 ... 16 ... 18 1 11 1 .... 1 2 2 7 1 2 3 21 1 f Mundla .. .. T 1 13 .. 80 ... 9.. 9 ... 3 1 Do. District 1 2 4 1 ) 8 20 3 t 3 48 8 78 8 103 22 120 47 608 31 378 23 564 16 M ~ , Balaghat District ••• 7 12 6 24 22 67 7 39 6 I Sautpoora j Q rt * T-i | 7nifi4.9q z a c o o m tj -^ feeonee ... .. 1 1 /U ... lo ... 4- ... * o .. o .. 4 .. o ... 3 .• 2 ... . .. ... H r-"- 1^ Do. District 33 81 8343278561039 4 51 11 61 5 109 17 117 37 254 32 348 14 294 8 142 21l Chindwara District 6 7 3 U 5 34 2 11 .. 11 2 1 12 2 2 23 1 1 Baitool District .. .. 1 .. .. 112 3 4 2 8 2 7 3 29 7 46 6 19 10 28 8 21 6 29 3 5 1 S Kampteei! '.'.' T 1 1 2 ... 1.. 10 .. 3.. 5 .".". 10 '.. 1 Z '.'.'. .7 '..'. .V. !.' .7. .. '.'.' * I Nagpore District .. .. 9 13 1 10 5 11 1 4 14 20 1 5 3 7 1 19 4 4 3 11 2 32 1 65 2 25 3 1 Nagpore J Bhundara .. T , I Plain. ") Do. District 12 62 2 13 9 42 2 4 2 9 j Chanda .. .. T , I iDo. District .. .. , 1 1 I L Wurdah District 2 18 6 17 4 13 5 17 3 23 4 11 2 10 7 27 3 16 4 17 3 13 1 H f Raepore .. .. T 1 81 .. 306 .. 139 .. 32 .. 8 ... 1 ... M Chutees- j Do. District 34 425 9 365 29 258 34 494 74 1,005 62 1,467 60 827 36 !)¦ GURH PIA-^ Belaspore.. .. T 1 40 .. 40 .. 8 ... 2 1 ... 1.. 2 B TEAU. | Do. District .. 2 8 1 1 .... 7 85 4 82 7 86 11 188 20 369 41 • 534 43 589 31 326 65 741 54 '.>¦ I Sumbulpore District 2 6 .. m Total .. 117 524 25 112 78 430 87 477 112 744 88 1,029 17$ 1,578| 169 2,394 316 3,617 533 4,257 484 5,708 449 5,553 383 4,362 227! 3,g1 A tmospheric conditions during the prevalence of the Epidemic. n HSi •3 Month. Ist 10 days. 2nd 10 days. Last 11 days. Ist 10 days. Wt ToPOGKAPHICAL DIVISIONS. STATIONS. 8 j§ ¦" x H W EH « r t i m •SPhmmvd hmmvd hmmvd hnimvd hmmvd [B r miles inches - miles inches miles inches miles in:hes miles m< fil Nerbudda valley ..Jubbulpore 1,385100' 84- -18100- N. .. 109* 94- -13100- W. .. 109 96- -15 120-N.W. .. Ill' 99- 18 156- N.W. ... 109" 98- -27 162 N.W. ..I Sautpoora hill ...'Seonee 2,070 101* 92- -17 50- N. .. 101- 93- -17 102- N. .. 101- 93- '29 116' S. 001 96- 90- f -36 102- S.W. 0 1 Nagport plain ...Nagpore 1,054107- 93- -20 108- N. 020 111- 97- -20 97" N.W. ... Ill' 98- 19 165- N.W. ... 11l- 98- '32 153- g,W, .. 107" 96- -38 192- N.W. ofl Chuteesgurh plateau ...Raepore 934101- 90- '25130 W. 002108' 96' -20184- W. . . 108 98- -25 134- W. .. 108- 97* '32 134- S, 022 104- 96' -38 184- W. ()-(¦ Jubbulpore Soil sandy. — Thermometers kept in a shed erected for the purpose in open ground, not culti- n vated. No tank or other surface water anywhere near. H Seonee. Soil, "deep blacksoil." — Thermometers in north verandah of a bungalow surrounded by M Nagpore Soil, " thin blacksoil " overlying trap rock. — Thermometers kept in ashed erected for the H I purpose in open ground, not cultivated. No surface water near. H Raepore ....... ..Soil, laterite. — Thermometers kept in north verandah of a bungalow, ground around not H 



STATEMENT No. VIII. 

?&? and decline of Cholera Epidemic of 1869 m the Central Provinces. June- • July. August. Weeks ending Weeks ending Weeks ending 29th sth 12th 19th 26th 3rd 10th 17th 24th 31st 7th 14th 21st 28th 4th September. i i , i ¦s -rf i' -«• i -d ¦« | 'S | -s « 1 i 4 111- Sl2^ 111 111 li 1131 II II 111 til I I f, S li I* I* r* ri I* l^ I^IS r: ll|l If If I I i fifjtJflfJflflfifitlfltJ I i I I I i •g'g'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S'S *S o l|j|||j||4iii|illilllll.|i||i|^ i i liilllililiiiiilsil3ji|iil|i| v il i -0 .. 49 .. 37 .. 27 .. 21 .. 21 .. 25 .. 23 .. 50 .. 70 ... 60 ... 58 .. 33 .. 13 ... G.. 2 l 570 \7 49 350 94 615 99 875 134 1,151 101 966 61 709 23 400 32 43± 20 281 5 113 9 159 6 80 8 122 16 203 20 63 764 6,939 .6 ... 17 ... 30 ... 9 .. 7 .. 3 .. 2 .. 1 ... 1 .. 7 ... 8 .. 7 .. 14 .. 8 .. 2 1 141 13 .. 51 -. 21 ? 5 1 ... .. .. 3 ... 1 1 .. 3 .. 4 1| 154 1)8 25 302 55 219 19 507 26 300 40 301 18 49 8 53 5 60 1 45 2 3< 3 87 .. 58 5 122 4 125 £ G2 307 3,006 }8 .. 33 .-• 27 .. 34 .. 16 .. 21 .. 18 ... 22 .. 5 .. 5 ... 9 .. 7 .. 4 .. 3 1 407 >2 52 488 88 593 61 543 36 514 29 244 8 120 8 109 1 40 4 52 1 45 .. 47 2 14 3 40 .. 20 3 14 463 4,043 2 .. 8 ... 8 .. 1 ... 1 1 39 >A .. 52 .. 10 .. 3 ... 1 ILB ¦0 85 857 78 662 50 690 33 536 17 185 13 148 10 91 3 69 1 8 1 5 .. 5 .. 392 4,17« J8 .. 18 .. 7 -• 3 .. 14 .. 13 .. 2 .. 1 1 I9(> )1 19 192 43 332 35 311 37 294 16 195 6 126 6 75 6 47 3 27 3 49 3 28 1 8 2 21 4 <? 2 6 241 2,10.5 1 .. 1 2 2 7 1 2 3 21 1 8 ... ... 13 10 .. 4 1 17 1 8 73 493 JO ... 9 •• 9 ... 3 2 1 HO '8 8 103 22 120 47 608 31 378 23 564 16 239 10 76 4 43 4 154 3 78 3 28 1 10 2 17 2 22 1 21 203 2,628 7 12 6 24 22 67 7 39 6 64 1 26 .. 3 2 20 5 28 3 13 ... 12 1 8 ... 11 S 01 322 c t) . 2 7 .... ... .. •• .. ... .. ... ... .. .. .. .. .. 1 124 )9 17 117 *37 254 "32 348 14 294 '*8 142 "*2 137 3 **78 4 34 1 2 2 7.. 3 3 24 1 10 2 "15 .. 7 208 1,1)31 2 1 12 2 2 23 1 6 23 98 16 6 19 10 28 8 21 6 29 3 5 4 25 . . 3 2 1 3 1 2 ... 11 11 1 00 237 7 .. 1 1 5 .. 4 ... 17 ... 73 ... 60 ... 63 ... 62 .. 47 1 391 L 0 .. 1 0.. 7 ... 4-S ... 40 ... 21 .. 0 1 101 19 4 4 3 11 2 32 1 65 2 25 3 7 1 12 7 4 1 2 10 4 23 7 97 6 48 13 08 21 70 110 570 1 3 ... 27 .. 49 ... 6-2 .. 29 ... 7l v . 1 177 12 62 2 13 9 42 2 4 2 5 6 33 3 3o 5 4.3 7 97 4 71 12 120 9 80 ] iNo returns 73 006 1 12 ... 20 .. 93 .. 100 .. 27 .. 15 .. 6 1 279 ... l 1 2 10 .. 15 1 25 6 43 15 47 4 87 5 07 4 22 38 317 1 2 '10 7 27 3 16 4 17 3 13 1 10 3 30 7 71 6 50 5 38 8 77 5 61 1 43 1 23 .... 80 591 ,1 .. 306 .. 139 .. 32 .. 8 ... 1 ... 5 ... 9 .. 13 ... 5 .. 1 1 600 5 29 258 34 494 74 1,005 62 1,467 60 827 36 99C 47 669 20 392 12 111 26 413 6 75 5 24 16 151 10 54 13 210 493 7,930 1 ... 1 .. 2 1 ... 1 .. 2 .. .: 1 98 '8 20 369 41 • 534 43 589 31 320 60 741 54 928 43 1,154 23 691 22 558 27 441 7 142 15 234 15 165 15 284 5 95 458 7,701 2 6 .. 38 1 2 2 11 4 17 1 19 3 24 5 30 7 53 7 170 6 154 38 524 4 316 3,617 533 4,257 484 5,708 449 5,553 383 4,362 227J 3,036 169 2,857 117 2,025 89 1,485 89 1,501 63 1,152 73 1,125 83 1,207 90 1,270 81 805 4,100 47,848 

heric conditions during the prevaleiice of the Epidemic. June. July. August. ys# Last 11 days. Ist 10 days. 2nd 10 days. Last 10 days. Month. Month. w rthw rthw rtlhwrthw rthwrthw r d h m m v d hmmvd hmmvd hinmvd hmmvd hmmvd inches miles inches miles inches miles inches miles inches miles inches miles inches •N.W. .. Hl' 99' 18 156-N.W. ... 109" 98- -27 162 N.W. ... 104' 93* -28 156- W. 0-42 108- 90' -51 104-" S.W. 295 87' 80- -53154- W. 2825 89- 73* -56 100- W. 890 •N. .. 101- 93- -29 116- S. 001 96- 90- -36 102- S.W. 002 97' 89' '32 120" N. 003 93- 85- -54 113' S. 390 84- 79- 80 76* S.W. 1684 84- 78- -85 36- N.W. 1941 •N.W. ... Ill' 98- '32 153- (3.W. .. 107' 96- '38 192- N.W. 001105- 94- -43 160- N.W. 1-29 99- 88- '59 138- S.W. 282 89' 82- -73112- W. 862 87' 81- '75 74- W. 961 •W. .. 108- 97- -32 134- S, 022 104* 96' '38 184- W. 0-01 104- 96- -33 168- N.W. .... 96- 87' '66 259- W. 307 85- 80- -81 ... W. 2278 86- 81- -79 .. W. 2374 EXPLANATION of LETTERS. 

H — Humidity. Saturation being =100. 

m. — Mean of daiJy observations at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. 

v. — Mean daily movement in miles. d, — Prevailing direction. 

R. —Bain-fall. 



STATEMENT No. VII 

Showing percentages of mortality accordina to amount of population in places attached in the District of Seonee. *- 4 * Li Class, jjf |§ || j£.J REMARKS. Under ... .. .. 100 .. 27 1,838 176 9*5 Over 100 aad under 200 .. 74 11,052 467 42 200 „ „ 400 ... 81 23,261 792 34 „ 400 „ „ 700 ... 49 25,779 555 21 M 700 „ „ 1,000 ... 11 8,711 168 19 „ I,OOG „ „ 2,000 ... 9 11,457 118 10 M 2,000 „ „ 4,000 .. 3 8,946 21 02 Upwards of .. 4,000 .. 1 I 10,261 80 07 Total .. 255 1,01,305 2377 23 



STATEMENT VI Showing mortality from Cholera in proportion to population in each Circle within the epidemic area of 1868. I .| 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 * II 111 J ll -II I 11 ISTRICT. POLICE CIRCLES, "3 S, -3 £ °| ft > *| I t| | a "S _ __i_ JLJIj !!iI_£LJLJ! 1H- iLAGhat. 80-rah ... ..C 12 2,309 83 505 2 Nil 12 2- 6,293 544 44 Ov Formation metamorphic. 1 . / Saosur .. ..C 20,370 70 129 200 6 4- 11,100 1,860 40 03 Do. do. g* VOomrait .. ...C 3, 1 (>0 84 287 11 1 0 3 335 335 5 1 4 Metaniorphic and sandstone. 5 3 YChourye .. ...C 5,990| 84 100 5.9 C 6- 1,923 320 48 2-0p art i y trap and partly metamorphic. V* (jOomurwarra ... ...C 2,911 84 135 21 0 4~ 1.700J 293 06 3-1 Trap formation fjKuttunghee C 140,227 159 293 398 35 12" 98,084 000 226 Q Formation metamorphic. w I Seonee ... ..T H),20l ••• . • . . J 10,201 .. 07 Trap formation ; water-supply partly from wells, lower classes from tank. g -\ Seonee ... ..C 120,229 118 472 267 64 135 23,250 357 370 1-6 Formation partly trap, partly metamorphic; water-supply from wells and streams, w | Lucknadown ? ..C 40,595 88 SHOj 129 98j 2(1 0 25,804 200 855 3*3 Formation wholly trap ; water-supply from surface wells and streams. (Keolaree ... ..C 91,5*0 88 475 192 02i 13 0 21,040 340 859 40 D o do do do do fPindraee .. ..C 20,191 32 103 19f 45J 437 9,507 211 402 42 Do. do. do. do. do." < j Mundla ... ...T 4,330 ••¦ I .. 4,330 ... 130 3 0 Situated on alluvial deposit; water-supply from Nerbudda river. Q j Muncila .. ..C 07,290 32 415 102 33 7 9 12,105 308 321 2 Formation chiefly trap ; water-supply from surface wells and streams, b } Ramgurh ... f..C Iqs IS4 -f 30 380 175 ' °? 17(j ]76 2G l4 '° Formation chiefly trap. | Shaipoorah ... (. C j ' v (. 1 05 01 61 4 6-5 Formation wholly trap. (^ Narraingunge . . ..C 30,534 331 11 0 49 14-8 8,390 175 333 39 Formation wholly trap; water-supply from surface wells and streams. Burgee .. ..C 25,373 100 ICO 158 42 20 9,361 222 30.4 89 Chiefly trap j water-supply, streams a^ surface wells. Barailla .. ...T 2,339 ... ... 2,339 ... 23 1 o Trap ; water-supply from wells, chiefly a tank close by. Barailla ... ..C 19,530 . . .90, 217 30 40" 8,202 217 434 5 1 Trap; water-supply from surface wells and streams. Koondun ... ...C 19,520 80 212 92 30 18 4 r>,134 r >,134 204 230 37 Chiefly trap ; a small portion sandstone and alluvial ; water from surface wells and streams. Jubbulpore Cantonment. C 32,039 ... 12,039 ... 17 01 Sandy soil on clay and sandstone; water-supply from wells. Jubbulpore .. ».T 39,087 •• •? 39,087 .. 101 04 Porous granite; water-supply from wells only. Jubbulpore .. ...C 05,724 ... 323 203 73 22* 23,845 320 033 20 Alluvial, sandstone and metamorphic; water-supply from wells, tanks and streams traversed; | by Pureyat river. [Shaipoorah ... ..C 41,303 150 374 137 51 297 18,294 358 303 2 0 Formation alluvial ; water-supply from wells; 12 villages on Hirun, 9on Nerbudda, Patun .. ...T 2,709 -- ... .. .. 2,709 ... 101 3 0 Formation alluvial ; water-supply from wells. X - Patun .. ...C 22,983 150 153 150 37 24' 8,323 224 410 s'o Formation alluvial; 12 villages on Hirun. Khymore ... ..T 2,047 •• 2,047 .. 120 45 Formation alluvial and sandstone; water-supply from Hirun only. c* j Kuttungb.ee .. ..T 8,332 .• 3,332 ... 4 Oi Formation sandstone; water from wells. g j Kuttunghee .. ..C 11,910 150 83 148 20 25' 4,000 233 179 38 Formation alluvial and sandstone; 10 villages on Hirun river. Mujhowlee . . ..T 2,300 .. .. ..... .. 2,300 ... 80 34 Metamorphic; water-supply from a large tank and also from wells. Ha Indrana .. ...T 2,100 .. 2,100 ... 45 2'o Metamorphic, laterite; water-supply from wells and from Hirun river. Punagurh ... ...T 4,377 •• 4,377 ... 7 0"l Metamorphic, red gravel ; water from wells only. Sehoraj ... ..T 3,680 ... .. 3,080 .. 2 00 Water-supply from wells; formation, laterite and metamorphic. Sehora ... ...C 55,235 128 390 139 82 207 24,504 300 633 2*o Formation metamorphic, laterite and alluvium; water-supply from wells, tanks and streams. Twelve villages attacked on Hirun. Sleemanabad and Koombhie ... ...C 45,425 120 166 273 21 126 8,985. 427 132 J 5 Metamorphic and laterite: water-supply chiefly from wells. Bilheree ... ..T 2,618 ... 2,618 .. 44 17 Sandstone and laterite; water-supply from tanks. Mhoorwarra ... ..T 3,918 .. 3,918 ... 23 o*s Sandstone and laterite; water-supply from wells and Kutna river. Mhoorwarra ... ..C 47 ; 229 120 217 217 20 12* 9,749 374 101 I*o Sandstone and laterite; water-supply from wells and streams. Bijiragogurh ... ..C 48,193 I^o 178 270 11 61 0,127 557 72 11 Sandstone and laterite; water-supply from streams and tanks. pi ( Saugor ... ...T 24,315 ... ... J.. ... .. 24,315 ... 203 0-B Situated on sandstone rock; water-supply from lake. g J Saugor Cantonment ?T 18,997 .- 18,997 .. 8 00 Situated on thin blacksoil overlying trap; water-supply from wells, 5 1 Saugor .. ..C 173,652 127 539 320 2 0-3 870 435 14 1 ."6 Formation partly trap; partly sandstone. m ( Rehlee .. ...C 147,407 127 723 200 1 01 121 121 5 41 Formation chiefly trap. fChindwara ... ..C 55,031 170 202 272 15 7"4 8,~75 585 132 15 Alluvial; water-supply from wells and streams, 0 | Nursingpore and Kunde- Igj ! lee .. ..T 9,604 | 9,604 .. 29 O^Sandstono. go i Nursingpore ?. ...C 64,058 176 160 400 5 3-1 4,610 922 40 08 Alluvial; water-supply from wells and streams. I Gadurwara .. ..T 6,000 •• .. 6,000 .. 37 0-0 Alluvial; water-supply chiefly wells, partlv from Doodya river. iGadurwara ... ..C 133,837 170 299 447 5 18 6,092 1,218 25 04 Alluvial; water-supply from wells and streams. f Bhundara ? .. 0 60,059 134 2^o 203 0 26 «,962 600 70 I B Metamorphic and laterite; water from wells, tanks, and rivers, I Maholee .., ..T 7 622 .. ' 7,622 ... 3 o*o Maholee ... ...C 50,401 134 141 357 5. 35 4,257 851 21 04 £ ! Toomsur ..: ...T 7,604 .. 7,604 .. 5 0-0 . 2 Rampailee ? ..C 89,377 134 156 572 10 6-4 10,987 1,098 79 0 7 § 1 Tirrora .. ..C 77,467 ... 195 397 7 S/O. 3,626 518 37 l'O g I Pownee .. ..T 11,265 11,265 ... 90 08 R I Earlee ? .-T ?94 894 .. 1Q 1-8 Kampta .. -C 115,801 134 245 472 8 V 2 1,974 658 29 14 ISakolee, ? ..-C 84,560 80 223 379 12 5;3 14,217 114 118 0-8 Metamorphic and laterite; water-supply from tanks and wells, ' Ramtek .• ..T 7,933 ... 7,933 .. 10 01 Metamorphic; water from wells. Ramtek .. ...C 22,854 172 74 308 1$ 243 12,528 696 120 1-0 Metamorphic ; water from tanks and streams. Khapa ' ... ...T 7,876 ... 7,876 .. 7 00 Metamorphio, alluvial; water from wells and Kanhan river. |f Mowdah ... ..0 14,604 172 39 374 12 807 12,982 1,081 126 09 Metamorphic and laterite; wells and streams. o J Kamptee ... ?.T 50,903 .. 50,903 .. 5] Cl Alluvial ; water-supply from wells and Kanhan river. 6 Nagpore .. ...T 85,661 .. .. 85,661 .. 41 00 Metamorphic; water from wells and tanks. fc Nagpore ... .-C 33,370 172 142 234 4 28 4,737 1,189 37 07 Partly trap and partly metamorphic; wells and streams. Bazargaon ? .-C 47,390 172 222 213 ; 5 22 2,905 5,81 30 Vo Trap ; wells and streams. I Katole .. ?T 4,116, .. ... 4,116 .. 44 jq D Q . do. iNurkhair ? -.T 7,319 7,319 .. 32 04 Do. do, P ( Wurdah .. ? C 127,512 144 469 270 4 0 9 10,208 2,552 41 0-4 Trap formation ; deep black soil, p 3 Arvee ... »-T 7,823 7,823 ... 44 05 Do. do. g 1 Arvee .. ?.C 97,115, 144 4,86 200 18 27 10,786 829 96 09 Do. do. j£ ( Hingunghat .. ..C 85,179 144 414 206 3, 07 10,396 3,465 15 01 Do. do. Total ... 2,994,07 a ... 11,176 268 978 8 7 751,246 768 9,602 *T5 



L 

- — p^~ ¦ mMtttt 

ON THE 

It O X e r it #|iiiljeiiiii: 

OK 

1868. 

BY 

Dr. S. C. Towxsexd, 

Sanitary Com rtxissioner, 

Central Provinces and Beraes. 

1869.