Page:Thirty-five years in the East.djvu/100

60 the following morning, from whom I got vaccine matter enough to enable me to vaccinate several other children, among whom was Miss Victorine, at the harem of the general. The people having thus been convinced of their foolish error, came in numbers to my abode; the population of all the neighbouring villages, young and old, wished also to be operated on. Here again I had the opportunity of making some medical and surgical experiments, obliged as I was, to wait four months for the caravan of the Loanis, who were purchasing indigo in that neighbourhood, to carry it to Bokhara. My intention was to accompany that caravan, and to continue my journey from Bokhara to my native country, by crossing Russia. I learned afterwards, that after my departure from Dhera, Runjeet Sing began to be indisposed, and he sent messengers after me, to induce me to return, but they did not overtake me.

From Dhera-Ghasi-Khan, I went with the caravan to Dherabend, situated on the upper part of Dhera-Ismail- Khan, at the foot of the mountain, where the women, children, horses and sheep of the Loanis were residing beneath their tents. Wishing to secure a supply of vaccine matter, on my journey to Cabul and Bokhara, I endeavoured, immediately on my arrival at Dherabend, to operate with it; but it was a difficult task, as the heat was excessive and increasing. The Loanis, however, agreed to undergo the operation as soon as they had reached the cooler regions of the mountains. But during this interval the vaccine lost its virtue, which I regretted, especially at Cabul, as the small-pox was raging there in a most terrific manner; so that, during my four months' stay at the house of the Nawaub Djubber-Khan, two of his daughters died. On my request, the Nawaub ordered inquiries to be made in the whole circuit of Cabul, to discover cows affected with cow-pox ; but in vain. At Cabul, this operation was quite unknown. At that time, I had forgotten having read somewhere that vaccine matter might be procured by inoculating the cows with the venomous matter taken from the small-pox, and that the venom is thus turned into a remedy.