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CEYLON.

TLITTI

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference —

C.O.885

3 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

.ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

CAR NAESTO EM

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No. 39.

Governor the Right Hon. W. H. Gregory to the Earl of Carnarvon.-(Received May 26.) (No. 103. Miscellaneous.) My Lord,

Nuwara Eluja, Ceylon, April 14, 1873.

I AM now enabled to forward for your Lordship's information a copy of the reports of the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the causes of the recent sickness and mortality in the Welikada prison; and I also transmit the replies of the Superintendent of the prison, and of the Chief Medical Officer, to the reference made to those gentlemen in connection with the reports.

2. The first intimation received by this Government that any serious sickness existed in the prison, was by a letter from the Superintendent, dated 22nd August last, in which he recommended that an inquiry should be instituted into the causes of that sickness. On the receipt of this letter I ordered that a commission should be appointed. My official memorandum to that effect was on the 1st September, but the order was given three days previously on the subject being brought before me by the Colonial Secretary. It was considered expedient that, as the conduct of the medical department was impugned, the Principal Civil Medical Officer should not sit on the Commission; but as it was essential that a medical man of experience and standing should be upon it, that the arrival of Dr. Watt, Military Deputy General Inspector of Hospitals immediately expected, should be awaited.

3. Dr. Watt arrived at Colombo on the 18th September, and on the 30th September, the earliest possible period, the Commission was appointed, consisting of the three Judges of the Supreme Court, the Queen's Advocate, Director of Public Works, and Principal Military Medical Officer, being in fact the standing Prison Discipline Commission, with the exception of Dr. Watt. The report of the Commission was sent in on the 17th December. *4. It would be observed that Dr. Watt has sent in a separate report, dissenting in certain particulars from that of his colleagues on the commission, and more particularly in that he appears to exonerate the Superintendent from all blanie in the matter, and to throw the whole of the responsibility upon the Civil Medical Department; and though this separate report undoubtedly contains much that is valuable, its effect is unfortunately considerably lessened by the presence in it of several not unimportant inaccuracies, such for example, being the statements about the ventilation of the hospital, about the number of patients in it, and as to the doors and windows of the association wards having been closed at night; these and other similar allegations being conclusively shown by the reports of Drs. Charsley and Vanderstraten to have been overstated, if not wholly unfounded.

5. I may here mention that as soon as intimation reached me that the sickness at Welikada had assumed alarming proportions, I paid a personal visit of inspection to the jail, and on discovering the existence of the practice of locking up the prisoners all night with their evacuation, at once ordered its discontinuance, an improvement which was followed shortly after by the removal of the patients to a convenient building situated about a quarter of a mile from the jail, and used, when occasion required, as a small pox hospital, but which owing to the non-existence of that disease, had fortunately not been required for this purpose for a considerable period.

6. The effect of this latter change was almost magical, the mortality fell at once to its normal proportions, and the sickness which had previously, as reported by the Chief Medical Officer, refused to yield to medical treatment, though accompanied by a liberal use of stimulants and nourishing diet, became amenable to ordinary remedies, and the general improvement in the condition of the patients was most striking.

7. The above steps had been taken before the Commission closed its sittings; the further measures recommended by the Commission were, as will be seen by a reference to their Report :

1st. The thorough purification of the prison; the walls to be scraped and a coating of Parian cement substituted for the old system of whitewash. This was at once put in hand, one wing of the prison being vacated at a time for the purpose, as it was not found possible to remove the whole body of prisoners from the prison.

2nd. Increased ventilation to the corridors.

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