Memoir on Thar and

1 Schoolmaster at Nuggur 35 Rs.
1 Schoolmaster at Mittee 35 Rs.
1 Schoolmaster at Islarakote 30 Rs.
Contingencies 15 Rs
Total 115 Rs
As the schools have been so lately established, it appears premature to enter into much
detail on the present occasion. Of the advantages of education, few people, I apprehend,
entertain any doubt, though a variety of opinions exists as to the nature of the education
that should be bestowed on the rising generation. This, however, is a question affecting
the higher class of schools; those of the Thurr and Parkur are elementary vernacular
institutions, quite sufficient, however, for the present requirements of the inhabitants. The
language taught is Guzeratee, being the nearest approach to the colloquial of the district,
and the one selected unanimously by the inhabitants to be taught in the schools.
Climate.
149. The climate of the Desert and Parkur is not very dissimilar from that of Kutch, but
being north of it, experiences the south-west monsoon with less violence; while the
extremes of heat and cold are greater there than in Kutch, particularly in the Desert,
where, in the hot weather, the glare and reflected heat from the sand is overpowering. The
villages or hamlets are generally built on the tops of the hills, as being cooler than the
valleys in the hot, and less cold in the cold weather, which is doubtless the case. In the
former instance, the free circulation of air makes the elevated spots preferable to the
valleys, where the sun strikes with great force, while the exhalation from the ground
between the hills, where the water often lies for a considerable time after the rains, makes
the valleys intensely cold in the cold weather.
150. Fevers and rheumatism appear to be the prevalent diseases, while in some seasons
small-pox carries off great numbers of children. Exposure and the absence of houses
must, I should suppose, be conducive to sickness and premature old age, in a district
where the extremes of heat and cold are great. With the exception of Deepla, Mittee, and
Islamkote, where there are 122,266, and 50 pucka houses respectively, all the villages of
the Desert are composed of bee-hive huts, constructed of bows, sticks and brushwood,
thatched with grass,— a species of building that a man would construct in two or three
days, from the materials abounding in the vicinity. In Parkur, however, particularly at
Veerawow and Nuggur, where materials for a better class of houses abound, the
inhabitants are rapidly providing better accommodation for themselves with bricks, or
stone and mud, and tiled roofs; at these places, there are already 50 and 58 pucka tiled
houses.
151. Government has lately sanctioned a Native Hospital Assistant for the Thurr and
Parkur; he is to be stationed at Nuggur, where a dispensary is proposed to be built for
him. This is a most charitable boon, and one that will be highly appreciated by the
community.
<strong>Memoir</strong> on the Thurr and Parkur Districts of Sind. Copyright © www.panhwar.com
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