456 THE GIANT ELAND [ch. xv 



to be once more with those who were dear to me, and 

 to turn my face toward my own home and my own 

 people. 



Kermit's and my health througliout the trip had been 

 excellent. He had been laid up for three days all told, 

 and I for five. Kermit's three days were due, two to 

 tick fever on the Kapiti plains, one probably to the sun. 

 Mine were all due to fever ; but I think my fever had 

 nothing to do with Africa at all, and was simply a recur- 

 rence of the fever I caught in the Santiago campaign, 

 and which ever since has come on at long and irregular 

 intervals for a day or two at a time. The couple of attacks 

 I had in Africa were very slight, by no means as severe 

 as one I had while bear-himting early one spring in the 

 Rocky Mountains. One of these attacks came on u<nder 

 rather funny circumstances. It was at Lake Naivasha, 

 on the day I killed the hippo which charged the boat. 

 We were in the steam-launch, and I began to feel badly, 

 and knew I was in for a bout of fever. Just then we 

 spied the hippo, and went after it in the row-boat. I 

 was anxious to hold back the attack until I got the 

 hippo, as when shaking with a chill it is, of course, very 

 difficult to take aim. I just succeeded, the excitement 

 keeping me steady, and as soon as the hippo was dead, 

 I curled up in the boat and had my chill in peace and 

 comfort. 



There are differences of opinion as to whether any 

 spirituous liquors should be drunk in the tropics. Per- 

 sonally, I think that the less one has to do with them 

 the better. Not liking whisky, I took a bottle of 

 brandy for emergencies, ^^ery early in the trip I 

 decided that, even when feverish or exhausted by a 

 hard day's tramp, hot tea did me more good than brandy, 

 and I handed the bottle over to Cuninghame. At 



