As the hot season advanced, snakes, poisonous and otherwise, became numerous in cantonments. A sepoy while asleep was bitten by one of those reptiles. He soon became unconscious; blood oozed from two small punctures on the instep where he had been bitten, from his mouth, nostrils, and from under his finger-nails.[129] He was treated by means of large doses of ammonia and turpentine, and ultimately recovered.
Prowling beasts of prey made night hideous. On one occasion much alarm was occasioned by one of them becoming “rabid,” rushing violently at and biting animals and people. Considerable numbers of both were so injured by the pariah dog; some of those bitten were treated, some not, but no specific results followed the injuries. In the bazaars within cantonments prowling jackals and wolves were so many dangers to infants asleep on charpoys at night; some instances occurred in which they were carried away and devoured by the larger animals mentioned.
The conditions of a soldier’s life in India at the time alluded to were calculated rather to weary than enliven him. The climate ill suited for out-of-door exercise; many of the men unable to read, and disinclined to learn; their two resources the bazaar and the canteen; their tastes and pursuits animal; mind a blank; the body a ready prey to disease. Absolutely no good result was to be gained from official reports on these points, and suggestions for improvements. I addressed letters to the journals in the hope of enlisting attention in favour of station reading rooms, lecture rooms, etc., but with the result that little notice was taken of my representations.
In the 10th Regiment itself, through the action of two or three officers, some of the soldiers enrolled their names as members of a “Mutual Improvement Society.” Meetings were held; tea and other light refreshments served in view to attracting men; lectures and demonstrations given on such subjects as Forts and Battles mentioned in the Bible,[130] Strata of the Earth’s Surface, Uses of the Human Body; classes for reading and writing also set on foot. Not long thereafter, a General Officer,[131] by order of the Commander-in-Chief,[132] arrived at Wuzzeerabad “to put a stop to so dangerous an association.” Military opinion was not then ripened for the innovation.