142 LODGES IN THE WILDERNESS 



disposal. The building contained but one 

 room. 



I entered and closed the door. For a few 

 seconds the darkness brought a sense of ease- 

 ment, but the closeness, the thick stagnation 

 of the air, made me gasp. And the heat was 

 nearly as bad as it was outside. How was 

 that? I put my hand to one of the clod-like 

 bricks of which the walls were built. It was 

 quite uncomfortably hot to the touch ; the force 

 of the sun had penetrated it. 



Something approaching despair seized me; 

 it was then nearly noon — could I live through 

 another six hours of such torture ? I began to 

 speculate as to what were the initial symptoms 

 of heat-apoplexy. The labouring blood thun- 

 dered in my ears ; I felt perilously near delirium. 

 It was as though one were being suffocated in 

 the cellar of a burning house. I stripped off my 

 clothes and grovelled naked on the clay floor, 

 seeking relief in cobwebby corners. In the 

 gloom I caught sight of a bucket of water. I 

 tore a sheet from the bed, soaked it and wrapped 

 it around me. In all my life I had never felt in 

 such physical extremity. However, lying on 

 the ground wrapped in the wet sheet brought a 

 measure of relief. But the miseries of that day 

 will never be forgotten. 



