Statistical reports on the sickness, mortality, & invaliding, among the troops in Western Africa, St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Mauritius / prepared from the records [by A.M. Tulloch, H. Marshall, and T.G. Balfour] of the Army Medical Department and War Office returns.

Great Britain. Army Medical Services

Date:: 1840

Credit: Statistical reports on the sickness, mortality, & invaliding, among the troops in Western Africa, St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Mauritius / prepared from the records [by A.M. Tulloch, H. Marshall, and T.G. Balfour] of the Army Medical Department and War Office returns. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$Table V. Showing theDeaths and Fatal Diseases among the Troops stationed at the Seychelles. Black Pioneers. Rations, Clothing, & c. 1G £ STATISTICAL REPORT on the SICKNESS, MORTALITY, and Years . 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1S35 1836 Aggregate - . Strength 258 Stren • • • • 28 28 28 28 25 29 30 31 31 Total Deaths. Fevers Feb. Cent. Com. 1 1 1 Diseases of Lungs Phthisis . 1 1 • • • • 2 2 Hepatitis Acuta. 1 • • • • 1 21 Diseases of Liver < Ditto Chronica . 1 2 3 7 Icterus . 1 1 • • • • 2* Diseases of the Enteritis. 1 1) Dysenteria Acuta Gastritis. 2 3 3 1 9} 11 Stomach and Bowels 1 • • • • l) Diseases of the Brain* 'Apoplexia Delirium Tremens 1 1 1 8 3 f Asphyxia • • 1 All other Diseases < 1 i\ 3 1 ^Invalid . 1 ]J Total 2 4 3 4 5 4 3 2 27 27 Thus 27 deaths have occurred in the course of these nine years, out of an aggregate strength of 258, making the average ratio of mortality 10^ per cent, annually, or nearly thrice as high as in the Mauritius. Where the civil inhabitants are so healthy this mortality cannot altogether be attributed to the influence of climate, much of it probably originated in the diet and intemperate habits of the soldier; 11 out of the 27 deaths were from diseases of the bowels, which seem to have been materially aggravated by the constant use of salt provisions, as no death has taken place from them since fresh provisions began to be issued, though previously the cases of dysentery were so severe that one in four proved fatal. On this subject one of the medical officers remarks, “ Dysentery is by no means a common (t complaint either among the whites or blacks of the island, and it is scarcely ever fatal; “ I have tried the remedies which the native practitioners of the place generally use, but (< find them possessed of no superiority over the others ; why then should this complaint be “ frequent and fatal among soldiers? Can we attribute it to the use of salt provisions, or “ to the immoderate indulgence in arrack newly distilled?” Both these causes probably contribute their full share. The salt provisions, if they do nothing worse, induce thirst, and when arrack can be had for 2s. a gallon, the soldier will not quench it with water. Intemperance is consequently carried to a still greater length than in the Mauritius, more especially as the officers in command have no means of carrying into effect the punishments likely to restrain it. Diseases of the liver have also been exceedingly fatal among this detachment, the deaths from them alone having averaged nearly 3 per cent, of the force annually, and as at the Mauritius, a large proportion of the dysenteric affections may perhaps be attributed to derangement of that organ. It will be observed that two fatal cases of consumption occurred among the small force stationed here, a sufficient proof that even in the most equable of climates, that disease carries off as large a proportion of victims, as in the most inclement regions ; the natives, too, are said to suffer considerably from it, but we possess no details to show precisely to what extent. None but White Troops have hitherto been employed at this station, and having ;now concluded all our observations in regard to that description of force throughout the Com¬ mand, the details of the Sickness and Mortality among the Black Pioneers will next be adverted to. BLACK PIONEERS. These military labourers have been enlisted for the purpose of relieving the European soldiers from the performance of fatigue and other duties, which subjected them to much exposure. They are distributed under the orders of the Deputy-Quarter-Master-General, among the different corps and detachments throughout the island, and a few are also posted at the signal stations. They are commanded by a subaltern belonging to one of the regiments in the garrison, and are all negroes, who have either been born in the Mauritius or brought from Madagascar and Mozambique on the East Coast of Africa. They are described as being a more robust and athletic race than those composing the West India regiments, but though, like them, enjoying every advantage in regard to treatment, they are found to suffer in an equal degree from being transplanted to a climate differing so materially from that in which they or their forefathers were born. Their pay and rations differ considerably from that of the European troops. Each private receives three-pence a day with one pound and a half of x*ice, a quarter of a pound of salt meat, half an ounce of tobacco, and half an ounce of salt, a ration which experience has shown to be equally well adapted to their constitution, and more congenial to their habits and tastes, than that issued to the Black Troops in the West Indies. Their wives and children receive rations of this description, in the same proportion as the European troops. 1 he men also receive a cloth cap, jacket and trowsers, with two pairs of shoes, two shirts, and a blanket annuallv.$