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the pilgrims in Bombay, collecting them at the proper time, breaking to
them the news that their pilgrimage had been prohibited and that they were to
be detained at Násik, and then escorting them with their belongings to the rail-
way train. Upon the Collector of Násik and his Assistants fell the responsi-
bility of making all the detailed arrangements in connection with the camp,
such as the erection of sheds and huts for the accommodation of the pilgrims
and the provision of the necessary supplies, the expense of which was entirely
borne by Government. It was originally intended that the pilgrims should
leave on the 21st, but this was found impossible, and it was arranged that they
should leave on the morning of the 22nd instead. At the last moment it was
decided that they should be medically inspected at Bombay before leaving, and
not at Kalyán on the way to Násik, and this necessitated an urgent requisition on
the afternoon of the 21st to as many medical officers as could be called at a few
hours' notice to attend at the Victoria Terminus next morning, so that the in-
spection of the pilgrims might entail as little delay as possible. Brigade-Surgeon-
Lieut.-Colonel F. C. Barker, M.D., F.R.C.S.I., Surgeon-Major F. F. MaeCartie,
M.B., B.Ch., Miss G.M. Bradley, M.D., and a number of other medical officers
present in Bombay responded to the call and finally, after due medical inspection
at 8-30 A.M. on the morning of the 22nd, 530 pilgrims were despatched in the
special train to Násik Road Station. Three pilgrims (1 man and 2 women)
were detained for further observation on account of the state of their health.
Half of the military escort provided by Brigadier-General W. F. Gatacre, C.B.,
D.S.O., Commanding the Bombay District, under Captain Downing, accom-
panied the pilgrims, while the remainder had been sent on ahead the previous
night to Ndsik Road Station. Mr. Vincent reported that on the previous
night when he visited the different musáfarkhánas and other places where
pilgrims put up, and broke to them the news that there was to be no pilgrimage,
the Patháns, Afgháns and Sindhis were at first very boisterous, but they became
more tranquil by degrees and submitted on the morning of the 22nd without
the slightest objection to their despatch to Násik. Some 21 pilgrims, however,
had managed to elude the police while they were collecting them in the early
hours of the morning when it was still dark, and wilfully remained behind.
5. It may here be conveniently noted that on the 20th February 1897 the
Government of India issued the following Notification under the Epidemic
Diseases Act, 1897, altogether suspending the pilgrimage to the Hedjaz for the
current season:
" The question of the suspension of the pilgrimage to the Hedjaz having been under
the consideration of the Government of India and Her Majesty's Government, Her Majesty's
Government have now come to the conclusion that in consequence of the strong opinions of
all European Governments, including Turkey, regarding the danger of plague being commu-
nicated to Europe, it is impossible to meet their demands by any measure short of the sus-
pension of the pilgrimage for the time being. The Governor General in Council is therefore
pleased, under Section 2, sub-section (1) of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, to order that
the pilgrimage to the Hedjaz shall be altogether suspended for the current season."
6. On the 22nd February this Government further issued a Notification
under the same Act prohibiting the sale of tickets to the Hedjaz to pilgrims any-
where in the Bombay Presidency or Sind. But prior to this, in view of the
previous project to send all the pilgrims to Calcutta, Háji Kásam Jusab had
already sent telegraphic orders to the commander of his vessel, the S. S.
"Pekin," at Aden to proceed direct from there to Calcutta, instead of to Bombay,
and had sold tickets for the voyage from Calcutta to Jedda to 153 pilgrims.
The cost of these tickets, amounting in the aggregate to Rs. 5,381, was refunded
by Government to each pilgrim, without throwing the loss on Háji Kásam Jusab,
who had acted in perfect good faith. Similarly the cost of tickets already sold by
him to 260 pilgrims for the voyage from Bombay to Jedda, amounting altogether
to Rs. 5,720, was refunded by Governmet to each pilgrim concerned.
7. Meanwhile the pilgrims had arrived at Násik and settled down in the
isolation camp. The following letter from Mr. Maconochie, Assistant Collector,
Násik, in charge of the camp, No. 517, dated 27th February 1897, gives an
account of their arrival and the state of things up to that date:
"Having been appointed by the Collector of Násik as Manager of the Pilgrim Isolation Camp,
I have the honour to submit the daily report required by Government Resolution No. 968 of the
23rd instant, which only reached me yesterday.