Page 32 - PERSIAN 4 1899_1905

ADMINISTRATION REPORT ON THE PERSIAN GOLF POLITICAL
24
*hcn the boy Abdur Rahman died, the cpidcmio in my opinion bad fairly started, though
2 was ignorant of it at tbo time.
On the 27th of September a case was reported from the hamlet of Mateireh quite close
to Matrah but m a direction opposite to Jabru,
Progrtw of the epidemic in Matrab. and while the disease was raging in tho latter
place it appeared also in the Baluobi, quarter inside the town wall of Matrah. Most of tho
houses in that quarter being at tbo timo supplied with water from the same well (namod
Zarrafee in Jabru) as tho one from which the people of Jabru drew their supply, there would
seem to have been a more intimate connexion botween the two localities than their more
vicinity to each other would suggest. In fact, the history of the first few cases in tho Baluchi
quarter strongly favours the opinion that the infection was conveyed by drinking water. By
tbe end of the month the disease had advanoed to the suburb of Tuyan and other quarters of
Matrah, and though at first only a few scattered, cases came to my notice from the newly
infected localities, the epidemic soon became general and assumed a wider range, so that by
the 4th of Octobor it had fairly advanoed on its way to the interior, and by the middle of
October no part of the town and the adjoiuiog suburbs and villages could be considered free
from it.
It may be safely asserted that cholera travelled to Maskat from Matrah, the two places
_ . . . ... .. . . „ , . being in constant communication with each other.
Origin .nd progre® of the epidemic m Muscat. A]thb?ngh nbout the end of September strong
rumours were current of isolated cases of a suspicious nature occurring in Maskat, no definite
information coaid be obtained regarding them, and the progress of 'the epidemic supports the
opinion that the disease was directly imported from Matrah, for whilst tho epidemic in Matrah
attained its climax as jndged by the mortality due to it on the 12th of October, that in
Maskat did not attain it until the 3rd November, when the disease had fairly entered upon the
6tage of decline in Matrah.
The 6ret case of which any information could be obtained occurred on the 6th of Octol»er »
in the person of an Arab woman (Nasra, wife of Nasir-bin-Shicein) living in the brokers
quarter in the suburb of Tuvan, which, however, cannot be looked upon as the first centre of
infection, for undoubtedly cases had been occurring before that date, but no information
could be obtained about them. Besides, the very next day there were three cases, two of which
were in two different qoarters of the same suburb and the third one iu a totally different suburb.
These first cases were followed, on the 9th, by a case in the town itself iu tho Waljat quarter
and a group of cases iu the Jalali fort. The disease then began to spread rapidly, soon assumed
a general epidemic form, and extended to the village of Sadab on the 17th of October.
It attained its maximum about the beginning of November, began to decline about tbe
beginning of that month, aud finally disappeared about the end of January 1900.
Before proceeding to remark on the nature and character of the epidemic I consider it
desirable to state the arrangement that was made
The limits of Msskat and Matrab adopted for
the purpose of registration. to register cases regarding which reliable informa­
tion could be obtained and to convey some idea of
the suburbs and quarters of Maskatand Mat-rab, and the villages and hamlets in their imme­
diate vicinity included in this report.
From the first it was seen that unless myself in Matrah and my Assistant at the Hospital
in Maskat undertook to obtain all tbe available information of cases and record it, no reliable
data could be^subsequently forthcoming for the compilation of a report such as this. I,
therefore, decided upon dividing tbe work by including under Maskat the neighbouring villages
of Sadab add Kalbhu and under Matrah the hamlets of Riyam, Mateirab, Falaj and Arbak,
and the village of Darseit; and directed 1st class Hospital Assistant Muhammad Hosain to
register all epes coming to bis knowledge in the first three places, whilst I myself undertook
the registration of casts occurring in Matrah and the places included under it. The reason of
my grouping these villages aud hamlets with the two towns would be clear to anyone having a
knowledge of their topography, for though they are separated from Maskat and Matrah by
small hills they are so.close to them that in a practical point of view they may be looked upon
more as suburbs than independent centres of habitation. That the task was not an easy one,
c-ootbe denied, particularly as we laboured under difficulties which in a more civilized place
would have had either no existence or would have been overcome by means of more energetic
measures on tbe part of the localauthorities. It is true that His Highness the Sultan had
appointed two officials for the purpose of making au inquiry in Maskat and reporting tbe
cases there to my Assistant, who, however, informs me that the assistance they gave was not
as satisfactory as might have been expected and that he had on many occasions to supplement
the record through other channels, whilst iu Matrah l had entirely from the beginning to the
end to depend upon my own personal influence and exertions to obtain the necessary inform­
ation, Although these difficulties were not insurmountable as might be judged from the result
overinsBmce ** ^rep0rt, 1shoald have*carcel7 felfc jusfcified in their "ktence

The town of Maskat being small in area, though divided into several quarters, is, for the
Localities included under Maskat s»ke convenience, shown in this report os on y

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