80 A NATURALIST IN CANNIBAL LAND 



more than half an inch deep. We have been free 

 from fever, comparatively. So far I have not had 

 a touch of it, but perhaps to make up for it I had the 

 swollen feet. By way of remedy at first I tried 

 iodoform pure, then pure carbolic with vaseline, then 

 zinc ointment. Then, on Christmas Day, I acciden- 

 tally discovered something that may perhaps be of 

 use to any one who finds himself in the same position 

 as I was. For three nights I had had scarcely any sleep 

 at all, on account of the pain in my feet and ankles, 

 brought on by the sores. On Christmas morning I 

 was completely worn out and felt quite unable to 

 work. My feet would ache like a dull toothache for 

 a few minutes, then something would start a pain 

 like red-hot needles being run into them. By way of 

 experiment I mixed some carbolic with salad oil 

 (about four of oil to one of acid) and put it on. It 

 seemed to take the pain away within a few minutes, 

 and after that I had a sound sleep and felt another 

 man altogether." 



In addition to the uneasiness caused by illness in 

 my own camp there were disheartening reports from 

 others. When I had come across to Samarai from 

 Cooktown the previous November, a party of five 

 diggers from Townsville arrived at the same time in 

 a half-decked cutter, and proceeded up the N.E. 

 coast, intending to try and get up the Moosa River. 

 I heard at this time that one was dead and two half 

 dead; so ill they had to be carried off the boat 



