strength of the army. So injurious, however, is Bengal proper to this class of natives, in
comparison with the upper provinces, that, although only one-fourth oi the troops exhibited
are stationed in Bengal, the deaths of that fourth are more than a moiety of the whole
mortality reported.”
Now, according to this statement, the native troops in the interior
show a degree of healthfulness (1 death in 131) unknown to any
troop» in Europe; and even in Bengal, the mortality, as stated ahove,
would only he about 16 to the 1000, or about 1 in 60!!!
The most minute and reliable statistics we possess, touching the
influence of tropical climates on the European races, are drawn from
the reports of the British army surgeons, which give a truly melancholy
picture of the sacrifice of human life. We shall u^e freely
one of these reports, made by Major Tulloch, in 1840—an abstract
of which may be found in the April No. of the Medico-Chirurgical
Review of that year. This report includes the stations of Western
Africa, St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Mauritius.
The following statement refers to Sierra Leone :
i “ From a table furnished by Major Tulloch, it appears that, during so long a period as
eighteen years, the admissions have averaged 2978, and the deaths 483 per thousand of
the strength; in other words, every soldier was thrice under medical treatment, and nearly
half the force perished annually: indeed, in 1825, and again in 1826, when the mortality
was at its height, three-fourths of the force was cut off. Yet this estimate excludes acoi-
dents, violence, &c.
“ A considerable portion of the deaths in 1825-6 took place at the Gambia, which proved
the grave of almost every European sent there. Had the mortality of each station been
kept distinct, that of the European troops at Sierra Leone would not probably have exceeded
350 per thousand, or rather more than a third of the garrison, annually.
“However much the vice and intemperance, not only of the troops, but the other classes
of white population, may have aggravated the mortality, a more regulated life and purer
morals brought no safety to them. For, among the Missionaries, we find that:
Of 89 who arrived between March, 1804, and August, 1825, all men in the prime
of life, there died.................................................................................
Betnrned to England, in bad health............................................. #>## 14,
“ good health . ## # # 7
Remained on the coast................... i...................................
Total... ...... 89”
During the year 1825, about 800 white troops were landed at
different times, and in detachments: nearly every one died, or was
shattered in constitution; and, what is remarkable, “During the
whole of this dreadful mortality, a detachment of from 40 to 50 black
soldier» of the 2d West-India Regiment only lost one man, and had
seldom any in the hospital.” These black soldiers, too, had been horn
and brought up in the West Indies; and, according to the commonly
received theory of acclimation, should not have enjoyed this exemption.
No length of residence acclimates the whites in Africa; on
the contrary, it exterminates them. The history of the whole coast
is the same.
The Major s report goes on to speak of the black troops, recruited
from among the negroes captured from slavers, and liberated at
Sierra Leone. . It is remarkable that these black troops, recruited
from native Africans, give a mortality, during eighteen years, of an
average of 30 per 1000—twice as high as the mortality of other
troops serving in their native country. This rate of mortality is
about the same as that of the black troops in Jamaica and Honduras.
* * * It is not, however, from fever (ithe disease of the climate)
that the black soldier suffers. From this the attacks have been fewer,
and the deaths have not materially' exceeded the proportion among an
equal number of white troops in the United Kingdom, or other temperate
climates. The black troops suffer much more from fever in the
West Indies. Small-pox killed many, dracunculus, &e.
The Cape Colony possesses a milder climate, is free from malarial
influences; and the troops, both white and native, enjoy remarkable
exemption from disease and mortality. Fevers are rare and mild.
The Hottentots, like other black races, show a strong tendency to
phthisis—far greater than the white troops.
The Mauritius, though in the same latitude as Jamaica, is more
temperate, and far more salubrious. The British troops are as
exempt from disease here as in Great Britain. This island has a
population of about 90,000, two-thirds of whom are colored; and
while the white population are remarkably healthy, both military
and civil, the negroes die in as great a proportion as in the West
Indies, says Major Tulloch. A prolonged residence here, from heat
of the climate, is unfavorable to longevity of whites.
Seychelles.—“ A group of small islands, in the Indian Ocean, between 4° and 5° south
latitude. They are fifteen in number; but the principal one, named Mahd, in which a
detachment of British troops is stationed, is sixteen miles long, and from three to four
broM, with a steep, rugged, granite mountain intersecting it longitudinally. The soil of
Mahd is principally a reddish clay, mixed with sand: and is watered by an abundance of
small rivulets. The weather in these islands is described as being clear, dry, and extremely
agreeable. There is little difference in the seasons, except during November, December,
and January, when much rain falls, with occasional light squalls. The equality of the
temperature may be inferred, when we state that the maximum of temperature throughout
the year was 88°, and the minimum 73°. We cannot, therefore, be surprised when we are
told that the total population of the principal islands in the group amounted, in 1825, to
582 whites, 323 free people of color, and 6058 slaves—all of whom are said to enjoy
remarkably good health, and an exemption from the languor and debility so much experienced
in other tropical climates. Extreme longevity is' very common; and affections of the
lungs almost the only disease, of a serious character, to which the inhabitants are subject."
The British troops proved very sickly here; hut Major Tulloch
attributes this to had diet and intemperance.