Office of the Historian

Mr. Hale to Mr. Seward.

No. 49.]
Agency and Consulate General of the United States of America, Alexandria, Egypt, December 25, 1865.

Sir: I have the honor to enclose several tables of statistics in relation to the recent visitation of cholera in this country. A part of the information they contain is in continuation of those transmitted with my despatch No. 38, but as the official reports have been revised I have thought it best, while completing the tables, to repeat, with the corrections in their proper places, the figures previously sent.

The tables herewith transmitted, marked A and B, show the number of deaths from cholera and from other diseases at Alexandria and at Cairo, according to the official reports for each day from the time of the outbreak of the cholera at each place, until its disappearance in the former city on the 19th of August, and in the latter on the 17th of September.

The tables marked C and D show in like manner the member of deaths from cholera for each day, according to the official reports, at Damietta and at Rosetta, in which towns the ravages of the pestilence were the most fatal in proportion to the population.

And finally, the table marked E gives in a single view the official report for the whole of Egypt under the heads of the principal towns and provinces, divided according to sex and also according to religion.

The officers who have made these reports have undertaken to state the population of the whole of Egypt with numerical exactness, before the outbreak of the cholera, as four million eight hundred and forty-one thousand six hundred and seventy-seven. The number of deaths from cholera is reported at sixty-one thousand one hundred and ninety-two; being in the proportion of twelve and six-tenths in a thousand

The population of Alexandria is reported somewhat more, and that of Cairo somewhat less, than the estimated numbers given in my previous despatch. The proportion of deaths from cholera to population, according to the figures now given, varies very little from twenty-two in a thousand at both places.

At Damietta the proportion is forty-two in a thousand, and at Rosetta rises as high as one hundred and eight in a thousand, or more than ten per cent.

The official report sets down six hundred and seventy-eight of the deaths at Alexandria as occurring in the Christian community, and three thousand two hundred and ninety-nine in the Mahommedan. If this division be correct, and if it likewise be true that the Christian population of Alexandria is two-fifths of the whole, it would appear that the relative mortality among Christians was less than one-third than among Moslems, being nine and four-tenths in a thousand among Christians, and thirty in a thousand among Moslems.

In submitting the tables herewith transmitted, although they are derived from official reports, I must not omit to say that there is a very wide-spread belief that the actual mortality exceeded the numbers made known to the public After giving some examination to the matter, however, I am inclined to the opinion that this belief has no substantial foundation excepting so far as may result from these two considerations, namely:

1. It is admitted that on the day of the greatest mortality at Cairo, to wit, the fourth of July, of which the record includes the morning of the fifth, the whole machinery of recording broke down, and that not only were many burial certificates issued without record, but that probably some interments took place without certificates. It is quite impossible to say what correction should be made to the number of deaths on this account. One hundred and twelve have been added in the official revision. This augmentation of the original report is perhaps not enough.

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2. An examination of the tables would indicate that, as the cholera became less fatal, the average daily number of deaths from ordinary causes also diminished, a circumstance which may lead to the opinion that a part of the deaths ascribed to “other diseases” during the prevalence of cholera might not unfairly have been included with those caused by the epidemic.

It is for this reason that in the tables transmitted with my previous despatch, and in those herewith sent, covering the reports for Alexandria and Cairo, pains have been taken to include not only the deaths reported from “cholera,” but those from “other diseases ;” and it will be noticed that the addition has the effect to augment the mortality by about one-half for the sixty-nine days that the disease prevailed in Alexandria, and to double the mortality for the ninety-two days that the disease prevailed in Cairo. That is to say, the average daily mortality at Alexandria and Cairo during the time that the cholera prevailed in those cities was equal to the proportion of about one hundred and eighty in a thousand per annum, while the average annual death-rate for Paris is less than thirty in a thousand, for London twenty-three in a thousand, and for Boston and other cities in the United States, not more than twenty in a thousand,

The experience obtained here last summer, so far as I am aware, added very little to the sum of certain knowledge respecting this mysterious disease, although the advocates of every particular theory may find something in it upon which to found arguments in support of their views.

It may, however, be affirmed with confidence that the disease is not contagious in the ordinary acceptance of that word; that those suffering under it may receive the attentions of their physicians and friends, and of the benevolent, without danger to those ministering to them; that nothing is gained by a policy of isolation or domestic quarantine; that the disease always gives premonition of its coming to the patient by internal symptoms, which, if promptly heeded, allow it to be thrown off; and that the best and only preventives or precautions are the avoidance of exertion and fatigue, of all irregularities (much more of excesses) in diet, and of interruptions in normal, steady, and quiet habits of life.

The cases in which medical skill prevails against cholera are almost invariably those in which the disease is taken early in hand by the physician. When he fails, it is generally because the patient has neglected the premonitory symptoms. It is almost superfluous to add that the greatest mortality occurs in those towns or parts of towns where the habits of the people are filthy, and where, from want of good drainage or other causes, impurities prevail in the atmosphere.

I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

CHARLES HALE.

Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

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Table A.—Alexandria, (population 180,796.)

1865. Deaths from cholera. From other diseases. Total. 1865. Deaths from cholera. From other diseases. Total.
June 12 4 44 48 July 17 21 33 54
13 12 38 50 18 18 37 55
14 34 30 64 19 10 47 57
15 38 17 55 20 12 51 63
16 34 29 63 21 10 30 40
17 53 28 81 22 8 30 38
18 61 30 91 23 4 26 30
19 94 21 115 24 2 34 36
20 101 51 152 25 4 31 35
21 159 42 201 26 5 24 29
22 145 36 181 27 4 33 37
23 159 39 198 28 2 29 31
24 141 37 178 29 5 34 39
25 183 50 233 30 2 31 33
26 193 48 241 31 1 27 28
27 208 50 258 Aug. 1 4 24 28
28 214 45 259 2 0 38 38
29 209 43 252 3 0 24 24
30 197 40 237 4 0 27 27
July 1 184 25 209 5 0 32 32
2 196 23 219 6 1 30 31
3 228 37 265 7 0 31 31
4 176 40 216 8 1 38 39
5 118 39 157 9 0 43 43
6 132 44 176 10 2 26 28
7 142 35 177 11 2 28 30
8 94 29 123 12 1 27 28
9 91 31 122 13 2 37 39
10 64 37 101 14 1 28 29
11 55 44 99 15 0 20 20
12 61 33 94 16 0 34 34
13 48 33 81 17 1 24 25
14 21 41 62 18 0 32 32
15 23 45 68 19 1 21 22
16 22 45 67
Totals 4,018 2,360 6,378

Table B.—Cairo, (population 282,348.)

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1865. Deaths from cholera. From other diseases. Total. 1865. Deaths from cholera. From other diseases. Total.
June 17 1 61 62 July 16 109 89 198
18 1 60 61 17 107 64 171
19 2 65 67 18 100 83 183
20 2 46 48 19 80 90 170
21 2 52 54 20 72 73 145
22 2 68 70 21 54 63 117
23 3 52 55 22 38 79 117
24 17 55 72 23 48 69 117
25 21 75 96 24 35 52 87
26 71 74 145 25 25 90 115
27 85 93 178 26 28 64 92
28 93 75 168 27 16 66 82
29 136 65 201 28 23 74 97
30 216 84 300 29 16 63 79
July 1 329 77 406 30 13 77 90
2 306 80 396 31 14 76 90
3 382 112 494 Aug. 1 16 48 66
4 457 84 541 2 8 80 86
5 468 63 531 3 7 66 63
6 355 82 437 4 5 74 79
7 365 87 452 5 10 90 100
8 389 90 479 6 7 66 73
9 347 97 444 7 3 63 66
10 252 103 355 8 3 77 80
11 226 84 310 9 3 68 71
12 204 98 302 10 2 75 77
13 156 97 253 11 5 56 61
14 149 104 353 12 3 69 72
15 151 101 252 13 4 51 55
Aug. 14 6 57 63 Sept. 1 1 48 49
15 2 71 73 2 1 50 51
16 1 65 66 3 1 64 65
17 2 51 53 4 4 48 52
18 1 67 68 5 0 52 52
19 0 53 53 6 4 49 53
20 0 69 69 7 4 62 66
21 0 49 49 8 0 52 52
22 4 66 70 9 2 50 52
23 2 67 69 10 0 47 47
24 4 58 62 11 1 52 53
25 5 59 64 12 1 53 54
26 6 57 63 13 0 42 42
27 2 57 59 14 0 43 43
28 2 44 46 15 0 31 31
29 2 52 54 16 0 49 49
30 1 52 53 17 2 50 52
31 1 65 66
Totals 6,104 6,240 12,344

Table C.—Damietta, (population 57,000.)

1865. Deaths from cholera. 1865. Deaths from cholera. 1865. Deaths from cholera.
June 26 1 July 11 102 July 26 11
27 9 12 112 27 12
28 35 13 73 28 7
29 53 14 72 29 13
30 67 15 84 30 5
July 1 93 16 50 31 5
2 107 17 43 Aug. 1 2
3 142 18 42 2 4
4 157 19 21 3 2
5 172 20 18 4 2
6 171 21 14 5 2
7 169 22 13 6 3
8 166 23 7 7 1
9 172 24 10 14 1
10 121 25 8
Total 2,374

Table D.—Rosetta, (population 21,130)

1865. Deaths from cholera. 1865. Deaths from cholera. 1865. Deaths from cholera.
June 19 1 July 3 129 July 17 9
20 6 4 109 18 4
21 6 5 102 19 5
22 22 6 78 20 1
23 39 7 60 21 0
24 69 8 57 22 1
25 87 9 38 23 2
26 135 10 21 24 1
27 141 11 15 25 0
28 193 12 15 26 0
29 279 13 11 27 0
30 221 14 13 28 1
July 1 158 15 7
2 122 16 7
Total 2,167
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Table E.—Showing the number of deaths from cholera in 1865 in the principal towns and provinces of Egypt, according to sex and religion; showing also the duration of the malady, with date of beginning and ending in each place.

[Population of Egypt before the appearance of the cholera, 4,841,677; total number of deaths from cholera, 61,192.]

Towns. Males. Females. Total. Moslems. Christians. Jews. Duration of the malady.
From— To— Days
Alexandria 2,263 1,755 4,018 3,299 678 41 June 11 Aug. 19 69
Cairo 3,400 2,704 6,104 5,487 548 69 June 17 Sept. 17 92
Ramleh 43 40 83 70 13
Agiami 16 2 18 18
Aboukir 13 10 23 23
Rosetta 1,069 1,099 2,168 2,166 2 June 19 July 28 39
Damietta 1,128 1,246 2,374 2,307 67 June 26 Aug. 14 49
Port Saïd 50 10 60 6 54 June 28 July 3 34
El-Arich 19 16 35 34 1 July 5 Sept. 26 83
Suez 48 9 57 18 39 June 26 Aug. 7 42
PROVINCES.
Behera 1,204 1,037 2,242 2,240 2 June 20 Sept. 19 91
Garbié 5,805 4,376 10,181 10,064 117 June 20 Sept. 12 83
Menoufié 1,444 1,204 2,648 2,644 4 June 29 Sept. 12 74
Dakalié 3,858 3,498 7,356 7,272 84 June 22 Aug. 3 42
Charkié 1,903 1,668 3,591 3,479 112 June 21 Aug. 16 56
Galoubié 392 307 699 699 June 25 Sept. 5 72
Ghizi 810 663 1,473 1,473
Benisonef 513 518 1,031 1,031 July 2
Fayoum 718 588 1,306 1,306
Minié 946 820 1,766 1,509 257 June 30 Sept. 2 63
Osiût 2,293 2,094 4,387 4,387
Girgé 2,930 2,845 5,775 5,775
Kéné 1,581 1,503 3,084 3,084 July 23
Cosseir and Esné 408 305 713 713
Total 32,854 28,338 61,192 59,104 1,978 110