Village hospitals / Andrew Wynter.

  • Wynter, Andrew, 1819-1876.
Date:
[1866]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Village hospitals / Andrew Wynter. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    These boxes are fastened with, padlocks, each of which is separately tied up in calico, and sealed with the Pasha’s seal. Those containing the precious objects are additionally ornamented with little brass bells. From the moment the mahmal leaves the mili- tary Serai till its arrival at Asseily, before the Pasha’s tent, guns are fired at intervals. On/Its arrival at a mosque in the Meidan street,/con- taining the tomb of Sheikh Saad ed din Jibbawi (a celebrated man, who founded the sect of Der^slies called the Saadiyeh), the camel is led up window, through which the sheikh in charge of fl mosque has the special privilege of giving it a ball of kneaded dough, sugar, and almonds. Sometimes the camel seems to relish the sweetstuff; at other times he will drop it all; but, whether little or much falls to the ground, it is eagerly scrambled for by the assembled Mohammedans, who devour it as if it were heavenly food. Arrived at Asseily, the mahmal is taken off the camel and placed on a stand opposite the Pasha’s tent. The green silk cover is carefully packed up, and is not again displayed till within a short dis- tance of the holy places. An ordinary blue cotton cover is placed over the wooden frame during the march through the desert. The local pashas and troops then return to Damascus. The small camp remains at Asseily for a few days, that purchases and arrangements may be effected or completed; and when all is ready they start for Mezerib, an open plain about sixty miles distant. This first instalment of the caravan consists only of the officials and a few pilgrims; but a fair is held at Mezerib for about ten days, during which time the pilgrims flock together, and all start for Mecca and Medina on the appointed day, which is generally about the 25th or 27th of Shaval. When all are congregated together at Mezerib, the camp consists sometimes of about four or five thousand tents ; two or three hundred are pitched side by side in two rows by the merchants, and thus form a street of shops, in which almost any- thing can be purchased, from cooking-utensils to silk dresses and gold or silver watches ; and along the centre, between therbws of tents, are stalls for thej sale of eatables, fruits, &c. On a slight emiifincM intnh middle of the camp, is the Pasha's tent. JTne nja&mat*and lyfiy flag are placed just opposite its door, and ^between them is a light wooden cross about twenty feet high, on which are suspended binfcewls at night-time, that all in the camp may know the exact position of the sacred objects, and of the Emir of the Hadji, to whom complaints may be made. Hear at hand are the tents of the various officers of the caravan. Hext are the pilgrims’ tents, arranged with some degree of regularity in rows, and parallel with them are lines of picketed animals—camels, horses, mules, and donkeys ; and the whole is surrounded by the patrolas. The scene is very exciting and amusing ; for, besides this company, a great many Arab sheikhs assemble with their retinues, either to receive the Sultan’s black-mail—politely called a voluntary contribution,—or to sell their camels, of which many thousands are browsing on the plains and hills within sight. On the 25th of Shaval, a gun is fired, by the Pasha’s order, and then, within the space of about an hour, this immense camp is in motion. Every- thing is packed up, and the caravan gradually dis- appears in the distance, like a monster serpent wind- ing its way amongst the undulations of the plain in the direction of the shrines at Mecca and Medina. Unfortunately, th ousand^^rth^^ ^eople die on | the road, and they tions ; but he is comes whilst o_ ^ happy martyr, I Of Ks * suffer’ severe pnva- ^bose time of departure pilgrimage, for he dies a VILLAGE HOSPITALS. In the year of grace 1859, in the small village of Cranley, in Surrey, a little seed was planted, which is, we think, destined to bear fruit throughout the length and breadth of the land. The village surgeon bethought him that it was certainly a mistake that the means of ministering to the accidents and diseases of poor human nature should be confined to great cities and populous places, and that the interme- diate country, sometimes fifteen or twenty miles distant, should be altogether left out of the reckon- ing. In the great metropolis, and in every large city and county town, there is a hospital, or dispensary, in which nearly every malady to which the human frame is liable is specially attended to ; but in the large tracts of country between these centres of civilisation there is, or was, no refuge E. T. ROGERS. to which poor creatures, saflfeiffiig from the terrible accidents consequent upoS^Hbe-introduction of steam-macliinery into agricultural pursuits, and the railway, could be taken but the Union workhouse. And to that refuge the peasantry, who are in any degree above the condition of paupers, decidedly objected to go. The consequence was, that the severe cases of injury were either removed to the County Hospital, or to the nearest city where similar esta- blishments could be found. Even paupers were, and are still, hurried up to town, with a view to save the rates ; and many a poor creature has, after much pre- liminary agony, lost his life, lest the parish should have to pay the extra fee allowed to the Union sur- geon under such circumstances. Where it is possible, the sufferer can be treated, it is true, in his own