oct. — itia. 1859-60.] Report on the Laccadive Islands. 263 



are used in the Island and the remainder are cut up, dried or 

 made into meenshakrai, and exported : the fishes are each cut 

 into 4 pieces, and the bones and any scraps are boiled into a rich 

 soup with more solid balls of the same substance in it, the dried 

 fish is sold in the Maldives, Galle, and Malabar Coast at the rate 

 of from 8 Rs. to 10 Rs. for 400 pieces of 100 fishes : the soup 

 called strangely " Meenshakrai" (fish sugar) is much used in Me- 

 nakoy and is also sold at Pulo Penang. 



Diseases. 



94. The most common disease on the Island is what they call 

 " Vatham" (gout or rheumatism ?), as many as 100 have died of 

 this in one year : those attacked by it usually die within a month 

 of the time of the symptoms becoming observable. 



95. Cholera was not known here (as in Malabar) more than 

 30 years ago. There were severe attacks of it 10 years ago, and 

 5 years ago on which last occasion 370 died of it at the rate of 10 

 or 15 a day. 



96. Small-pox has never been very virulent on the Island : the 

 crews were attacked one year in Bengal and 100 men carried off. 

 The Islanders provide themselves at their own expense with vac- 

 cinators from the main land. 



h7. When Small-pox appears those attacked by it are sent for 

 40 days to a small islet at the south end of the lagoon, which is 

 thus used as a quarantine station. 



98. Leprosy is always in the Island, and those afflicted by it 

 are restricted to a part of the north portion of the Island where 

 they form a small community of their own : they have a small 

 boat and a few cocoanut trees, and their relatives place food daily 

 or weekly within their reach till they die. 



99. Hussan Malikan and Ally Malikan, the two chief merchants 

 of Menakoy, usually export 40,000 cocoanuts each annually. 



100. Ally Malikan' s usual export of coir is above 500 Tholams 

 annually. 



101. The usual annual export by the whole of the Islanders, 

 1,500 Tholams of coir. 



102. This has been a pretty steady average for 30 years. Last 

 year 2,000 Tholams were exported, because the previous year hav- 



