Hindus, who, it was supposed, would eagerly embrace a preventive arising
from that animal, held so sacred by their whole sect. It was,
nevertheless, found extremely difficult to induce the Bramins to adopt a
practice obviously so beneficial to mankind, although the latitude was
thereby given them of augmenting the attributes of their idol, and to
claim a preference in its behalf, even over the whole of the Christian
world. Those who were sanguine in their expectations, of vaccination
being instantly adopted among the Hindus at large, had entirely forgot,
that the people did not possess the smallest liberty, either of
conscience, or of conduct: they forgot that the priesthood had become
possessed of the most arbitrary power, over the minds of their peaceful
and timid communicants; and, that the practice of inoculation was
prescriptively confined to that priesthood: further, that,
notwithstanding the veneration in which the cow was held among them, a
serious objection existed, on account of the matter being taken from any
but a Hindu of the highest cast.
The vaccine inoculation was effected with great difficulty in India; an
immense number of experiments failed, chiefly owing to the _virus_
having been destroyed on the way from Constantinople, whence matter was
repeatedly forwarded by Lord Elgin to Dr. Short, at Bagdad. A whole year
was passed under the most mortifying disappointments; but in June, 1802,
a successful inoculation was made at Bombay, on a healthy child, about
three years of age; which furnished a supply for every port of India. By
shipping several children, who had never experienced the variolous
inoculation, a succession of subjects was happily secured, which enabled
Dr. Anderson to transmit the blessings afforded by this mitigated
disease, even to Port Jackson. The greatest apprehensions entertained,
arose from the danger of not being always provided with a succession of
infective matter; for it was soon discovered, that the _virus_ was
highly volatile, and often made its escape in conveying the _pus_ from
one house to another. This, added to the necessity, which soon became
apparent, for the formation of some depôt, and for the establishment of
certain principles necessary towards the desired success, caused the
Governor-General to nominate Mr. William Russell, of the Bengal Medical
List, whose abilities and zeal peculiarly qualified him, to the
important situation of Superintendant of the Vaccine Institution. A
series of ill health, which ultimately compelled that gentleman to
return to Europe, caused the records of the first months to be somewhat
inaccurate, notwithstanding every exertion on his part. His assiduity,
however, enabled him to register almost every child, born of European
parents, at that time in the settlement, among those who received this
benign and inoffensive substitute for the most malignant, loathsome, and
fatal disease that ever afflicted the human race.
In aid of what was doing at the Presidency, several of the surgeons
attached to the civil stations, and to divisions of the army serving at
great distances, and in various directions, were interested to
promulgate the happy issue of what had been attempted by Mr. Russell,
and by his successor, Mr. Shoolbred, Surgeon to the Native Hospital.
Nevertheless, notwithstanding such excellent precautions, the matter was
at times very nearly extinct; more than once the establishments at the
several country stations were completely destitute, and were obliged to
obtain a fresh supply from the Presidency: however, during the first
eighteen months, no less than 11,166 persons were vaccinated; a matter
of great importance, when it is considered, that, in India, at least one
in sixty dies of those inoculated with the small-pox. About the year
1787, an order had been issued, that all the European soldiers in the
Company’s service, who bore no marks of having had the disease, should
be inoculated, and be lodged in the Artillery Hospital at Dum Dum. A few
years after, (the former operation having proved highly successful,) the
order was repeated; the result was, however, very unfavorable; as full
one-sixth of the patients were carried off. It is to be hoped, that, in
due time, when the natives at large may be thoroughly convinced of the
security afforded by vaccination, the small-pox will be but little
known. Its communication by insertion being now very strictly prohibited
in Calcutta, and its neighbourhood, will, no doubt, pave the way for the
progress of vaccination, and weaken the influence of the Bramins, who
are interested in variolous inoculation. It is singular, that, at the
very moment when this crafty tribe were endeavoring to depreciate, or
rather to explode, vaccination, there started up among them a claim to
the knowledge, and practice, of the latter at Bareilly, where
inoculation was almost unknown. An attempt was made to prove, on the
authority of a very ancient Sanscrit book, entitled, ‘_Sud’has
Angraha_,’ and written by a physician, whose name was _Mahadeva_, that
vaccination was practised in India many centuries back. On examining
other copies of the work, it was found, that the passage quoted from
that produced at Bareilly was wanting; this, added to other
circumstances, rendered the tale rather doubtful, and led to such an
investigation as proved fatal to the imposition.
It is a great pity the deception was ever discovered; since nothing
could have aided the views of government better, than the testimony of
such an ancient authority, of the practice having been formerly common
in Hindostan! We were certainly wrong in publishing that refutation,
which deprived us of the best weapon we could have employed for the
extension of our pursuit. In lieu of decrying the work in question, as
‘an impudent forgery, interpolated into a Sanscrit-book, by one of those
frauds so commonly, and so dexterously, committed by the Hindu literati,
for the purpose of supporting the claims of the Bramins to the prior
possession of all kinds of science,’ we ought to have assented fully to
that imposition; allowing the priests to enjoy the supposed antiquity of
their knowledge, and contenting ourselves with the contemplation of
those immense benefits produced by the concurrence in, or adoption of,
our practice, by those infatuated foster-fathers. But the struggle for
reputation caused us to quit our hold, in the most impolitic, and
thoughtless manner!
It may not be unpleasing to my readers, to be informed as to the manner
in which the _Bramins_, or Hindu priests, who are the only persons of
that sect allowed to inoculate, perform the operation: the following
extract from Mr. Shoolbred’s treatise shews, that no alteration has
taken place since Mr. Holwell, from whom Mr. S. quotes, gave the public
an account of their practice, viz.
‘Inoculation is performed in Hindostan by a particular tribe of
_Bramins_, who are delegated annually for this service, from the
different colleges of _Bindoobund_, _Allahabas_, _Benares_, &c., over
all the distant provinces. Dividing themselves into small parties, of
three or four each, they plan their travelling circuits in such wise, as
to arrive at the places of their respective destinations some weeks
before the usual return of the disease. They arrive commonly in the
Bengal provinces early in February; although, in some years, they do not
begin to inoculate before March, deferring it until they consider the
state of the season, and acquire information of the state of the
distemper. The inhabitants of Bengal, knowing the usual time when the
inoculating Bramins annually return, observe strictly the regimen
enjoined, whether they determine to be inoculated or not: this
precaution consists only in abstaining for a month from fish, milk, and
_ghee_ (a kind of butter, made generally from buffalo’s milk). The
prohibition of fish relates only to the native Portugueze and
Mahomedans, who abound in every province of the empire. When the Bramins
begin to inoculate, they pass from house to house, and operate at the
door, refusing to inoculate any who have not, on a strict scrutiny, duly
observed the preparatory course enjoined them. It is no uncommon thing
for them to ask the parent how many pocks they choose the children
should have. They inoculate indifferently on any part, but, if left to
their choice, they prefer the outside of the arm, midway between the
wrist and the elbow, and the shoulders of females. Previous to the
operation, the Bramin takes a piece of cloth in his hand, (which, if the
family is opulent, becomes his perquisite,) and with it gives a dry
friction on the part intended for inoculation, for the space of eight or
ten minutes; then, with a small instrument, he wounds by many slight
touches, about the compass of a silver groat, just causing the smallest
appearance of blood. Then opening a double linen rag, which he always
keeps in a cloth round his waist, he thence takes a small pledget of
cotton, charged with the variolous matter, which he moistens with two or
three drops of the Ganges water, and applies to the wound; fixing it on
with a slight bandage, and ordering it to remain on for six hours
without being moved: the bandage is after that time taken off, but the
pledget remains until it falls off of itself. The cotton, which he
preserves in a double calico rag, is saturated with matter from the
inoculated pustules of the preceding year; for they never inoculate with
fresh matter, nor with matter from the disease caught in the natural
way, however distinct and mild the species. Early in the morning
succeeding the operation, four pots, containing about two gallons each,
of cold water, are ordered to be thrown over the patient from the head
downwards, and to be repeated every morning and evening, until the fever
comes on, which usually is about the close of the sixth day from the
inoculation, then to desist until the appearance of the eruption, (about
three days,) and afterwards to pursue the cold bathing, as before,
through the course of the disease, and until the scabs of the pustules
drop off. They are ordered to open all the pustules with a sharp-pointed
thorn, so soon as they begin to change their color, and whilst the
matter continues in a fluid state. Confinement to the house is
absolutely forbidden; and the inoculated are to be exposed to every air
that blows; the utmost indulgence they are allowed, when the fever comes
on, is, to be laid on a mat at the door. Their regimen is to consist of
all the refrigerating things the climate and the season produce; as
plantains, sugar-canes, water-melons, rice, gruel made of white poppy
seeds, and cold water, or thin rice gruel, for their ordinary drink.
These instructions being given, and an injunction laid on the patients
to make a thanksgiving, (_poojah_,) or offering to the goddess, on their
recovery, the operator takes his fee, which, from a poor person, is a
_punn_ of _cowries_, (in number eighty, and in value about a
half-penny,) and goes on to another door, down one side of the street,
and up the other; and is thus employed from morning till night,
inoculating sometimes eight or ten in a house.’
Mr. Shoolbred observes, on the authority of Mr. Glass, the surgeon at
Boglepore, that, in that district, inoculation is performed by the
lowest casts. This is certainly true among the _Pahariahs_, or Hill
people, inhabiting that mountainous country lying between Boglepore and
Nagpore. There, inoculation is performed in a very rough manner, merely
by means of a blunt instrument, which, with some labor to the operator,
and abundance of pain to the patient, is made to draw blood: the matter
is then rubbed in with the finger!
These same _Pahariahs_ perform other surgical operations in the rudest
way, but with most extraordinary success; thus, they cut capons with a
blunt clasp knife, made of iron; which, having a ring passed through the
butt of the haft, or sheath, is always suspended by a cord passing round
the waist. With this instrument, they make the necessary incision, so as
to introduce a finger; when, having extracted the _testes_, the wound is
rubbed with a little _ghee_ and turmeric, and almost invariably heals in
a very few days. It may be considered curious, that among the
_D’hangahs_, (as the people who appear to be the aborigines of Tamar,
Chittrah, Puchate, are designated,) very few instances, in proportion to
the bulk of their population, are to be found, of persons marked with
the small pox; I should be disposed to attribute this entirely to the
simplicity of their manner of living; in which plain rice, with a few
vegetables, stewed, much the same as for a _curry_, but without its
catalogue of spices, compose the ordinary bill of fare. It cannot be
owing to any thing favorable in the climate, which is peculiarly
unhealthy.
The hospital for the reception of natives requiring surgical assistance,
now supported in Calcutta by voluntary contribution, was founded about
the year 1793; before which time, those unfortunate persons who met with
accidents had no asylum, wherein they could find either solace or
remedy. The establishment is, as yet, rather limitted; but, it is to be
hoped, will, in the course of a few years, rise superior to the
disadvantages under which it labors, in consequence of the great expence
incurred in lodging the patients, many of whom labor under complaints
purely clinical; contrary to the first intention, and indeed, to the
first proposal for such a charity, which was started about 1791, in a
letter published in ‘the World,’ (a Calcutta weekly paper,) addressed to
the Reverend ——— Owen, one of the chaplains at the Presidency.
In that letter was suggested the expediency of causing all those
deformed persons who infest the streets of Calcutta, in quest of
eleemosynary aid, to be sent to some hospital, which should likewise
accommodate such natives as might be injured by accidents within the
city. The proposal was founded on the peremptory necessity for
conducting all upon the cheapest plan; and contained a calculation of
the expences incident to the construction of thatched ranges of huts,
similar to barracks, to be erected on a piece of ground to be granted by
government for that purpose. The whole expence, it appeared, would not
have amounted to more than £1,500., or £2,000. yearly, yet full
accommodation, and subsistence, would have been afforded for three
hundred patients.
The idea of permanence, which is usually supposed to carry with it
cheapness, was, I understand, the plea for deviating from the proposed
economical estimate: the consequence has been, that the number of
patients is extremely limitted. That original expence will, in most
countries, be found far cheaper than a flimsy beginning attended with
constant demands for repair, cannot be doubted; but, where there is no
capital, at least a very small one, it is absurd to act upon the former
scale; since it must, of necessity, counteract the whole intention.
Further, we should consider local circumstances: thus, in Calcutta, the
same money that will cover in accommodations for a thousand persons,
under a substantial thatch, laid over mud, or mat walls, adequate to the
ordinary purposes of the inhabitants at large, and similar to at least
ninety-nine in the hundred, of those habitations which shelter the bulk
of the population; would not suffice to provide fifty, of the same
description, with apartments formed of masonry, timber, &c., according
to the scale on which Europeans build houses for their own residence,
within that city. It is likewise a well-known fact, that, what is called
a _puckah-house_, that is, one built of bricks, lime, and timber, will,
at the end of ten years, cost as much in repairs, as the thatched
edifices built for an equal number of inhabitants. This being the case,
it will forcibly strike the reader, that, in departing from the original
suggestion, the managers likewise departed from the best principle.
It has been vain-gloriously asserted, within my hearing, by many
natives, that, although the institution in question was founded by
Europeans, yet, that it has been principally upheld by the liberality of
opulent natives. This may, perhaps, be in some measure correct; allowing
it, however, to be so to the fullest extent, I cannot see that the
natives have done more than an ordinary duty, in affording assistance to
their own countrymen, and that too, after being urged, or guided, to the
measure; while, on the other hand, the European inhabitants may
certainly claim the palm, both as original founders, and subsequent
benefactors, in a case, where their own countrymen were not to be
benefitted. The present state of the funds is not the most flourishing;
and its utility is too great to allow its falling from deficiency of
means. Would it not be advisable, to collect a very small assessment at
every house inhabited by a native within the Maharrattah Ditch, (which
limits the jurisdiction of the police,) either according to extent, or
to its rent? This assessment should be paid into the hands of the
magistrates, to be by them disbursed, according to proper regulations,
through the medium of native agents, to be elected annually by all who
should contribute either a certain gross sum, or by regular yearly
donation, towards the support of the institution. This would produce a
stabile, and adequate, revenue; while it would likewise induce many
natives, some from pride, others from hope, and a few from fear, to add
their mites to such as should result from that spontaneous flow of
genuine humanity, with which the Hindu code is replete; and, of which
the Hindus at large make so great a boast. Possibly the day is not far
off, when, in lieu of building immense houses, richly endowed, for the
maintenance of an idle, haughty, ignorant, and insolent, gang of
priests, some rich natives, reflecting on the want of their more
industrious, and more meritorious, poor, may bequeath liberally towards
the formation of such establishments, as may rescue them from that
variety of sufferings, to which they become subjected, by the
accumulation of years, the visitations of disease, and the pressure of
misfortune!
The style of building in use among the natives, is very different from
what we should expect to find adopted in so hot a climate; experience
is, however, in its favor, and sanctions that which, no doubt, resulted
from observation, more than from experiment. The walls of such edifices
as are intended to be permanent, are usually constructed of mud; which,
being laid in strata, of perhaps 18 or 20 inches in depth, each being
suffered to dry before another stratum is added above, becomes extremely
firm, and far more durable, though not quite so neat, as unburnt bricks
laid in mud cement. The thickness of the wall is proportioned to the
intended height; probably about 26, to 30, inches at the base, may be
considered a fair average; tapering above to about three fourths of the
breadth below. I have seen some _bungalows_ run up with mud walls,
which, after being chipped down to an uniform thickness, and properly
plastered with fine sand, mixed with chaff, were neat enough: but all
mud walls invariably crack considerably while drying; consequently, are
apt to harbor centipedes, scorpions, and even snakes, within their
fissures. This is a most serious defect; completely counter-balancing
the advantages obtained, by that facility and cheapness with which they
can be run up to a great height, provided due attention be paid to the
perpendicular.
Few of the peasantry, even though possessing some property, carry their
walls higher than 8 or 10 feet; indeed, the generality of huts may be
set down at 7 feet exteriorly, though they will rise near a cubit more
inwardly, when filled up to the under part of the thatch. It is rare to
see any window in the front; and, in such as have enclosed areas, (by us
called ‘_compounds,_’ but by the natives designated ‘_ungnahs_’,) the
_cricky_, or door, which is always very low, obliging even short persons
to stoop considerably, is commonly in some part of the environing wall,
and partly concealed by an angle, so as to preclude the possibility of
seeing any thing of the interior when the door is thrown open. Every
door has a frame, composed of strong wood, of which the side pieces, or
uprights, are tenoned into mortices, made in the threshold and the upper
limb. The superincumbent part of the edifice is supported by a strong
plank, or by several pieces of timber, laid parallel, and secured by
thorough-pins, for the whole breadth of the wall. No arch is turned to
keep off the dead pressure of the enormous weight, that, in many
instances, is thus borne up entirely by the door-plate. On the top of
the wall, a stout piece of timber is laid, whenever the rafters are
fastened, each by one or more nails, but projecting at least a foot
beyond the exterior, for the purpose of sustaining the thatch, which is
made to hang over, with the intention to throw off the rain, that,
falling in torrents during many months, would else wash away the mud,
and endanqer the building.
The thatches are usually made of the _kuss_, or common wild grass, whose
roots furnish that fibrous substance called _kuss-kuss_, already spoken
of while describing the formation of _tatties_. Immense plains are
covered with this kind of grass, glowing commonly about two or three
feet high: though, in some places, it may be seen full five feet;
serving as an asylum for every species of game; causing many gentlemen,
on first entering the country, to admire, what they at first take to be
‘the prodigious fine crops of hay.’ It is commonly burnt down every year
during the hot season, when perfectly dry: the ashes thus tendered to
the soil, being washed in by the succeeding rains, occasion the grass to
shoot forth, from the apparent ruin, with incredible freshness and
vigor! At such times, nothing can be more acceptable to the herds,
which, during the preceding months, are often obliged to be sent to
great distances, where a little herbage may be found; or they are,
perhaps, subsisted upon chaff made from straw, millet-stalks, and the
refuse of the thrashing floor. For several months, the grass in question
is relished by every description of cattle; but, after the sun has
crossed the Line, on his return to the opposite tropic, it becomes harsh
and dry, proving so injurious to their mouths as to cause their
rejecting it, except when severely oppressed by hunger.
From the end of February, probably to the setting in of the rains in
June, great numbers of persons are employed in cutting the _kuss_, or
_khur_, as it is indiscriminately called, with a kind of sickle, and
tying it up into _haunties_, (or handfuls,) usually about six inches
thick. These are conveyed on _hackeries_ to the several markets, and
especially to the military cantonments, where they sell at various
prices, according to the distance they may have been conveyed, the
scarcity or abundance of the article, the time of the year, and the
pressure of the demand. From 1000 to 1200 bundles for a rupee, may be
taken as a fair medium; though, during the rains, when thatches must
often be made, or replaced, cost what they may, I have often known them
sold at a rupee for every hundred: on the contrary, they are often so
cheap as 3000, or even 4000, for that sum. The manner of constructing a
thatch according to the best principle, both for neatness and
durability, is as follows. The whole side of the building, intended to
be covered in, is measured, and that measurement is exactly represented
on some level spot, by means of four cords, fastened to as many stakes;
which thus exhibit the form and extent of the thatch to be constructed.
Each side of a quadrangular, or other building, must be thus laid down.
All hands set to work in placing either whole bamboos of the large kind,
or bundles of three and four of the small kind, parallel, and about a
foot asunder; all directed by the base line, towards which they stand at
right angles; so that, when ready, they would be in the same line with
the fall of the ‘_chupper_,’ (or thatch). These being duly prepared, are
crossed at about five, or six inches asunder, by battens of split
bamboo, which are fastened down, at every intersection, with strong
twine made of a finer kind of grass, called the _moonje_; which is very
strong, especially when wetted. Each frame being thus formed, is raised
into its place by the joint efforts of perhaps fifty or sixty men; some
laying hold of the frame, others pushing upwards with forked poles of
various lengths, thereby to facilitate the ascent, and to prevent that
friction which must attend upon any continued contact between the frame,
and the several ready-laid rafters on which it is to lie, and to which
it is to be firmly lashed.