SUNSTROKE AND DYSENTERY 



came upon fresh cattle spoor, which could only mean 

 that there was water ahead and that I was going in 

 the right direction ; so taking up the trail I marched 

 on with renewed hope, wondering who owned the 

 cattle and whether they would prove friends or foes. 



The heat had been gradually increasing and was 

 now so terrific that I called a halt just before noon. 

 Unfortunately the thorn bush afforded no shade, and 

 so exhausted were the men that it was with difficulty 

 I persuaded them to light fires and cook their food. 

 I had at that time two men down with dysentery, 

 two with fever and one with sunstroke (the porter 

 who collapsed the day before). The latter was in 

 a pitiable condition, moaning and sobbing con- 

 tinuously ; he revived somewhat after I had thrown 

 a little of the precious water over him, and an 

 injection of morphine seemed to ease the pain. 

 Natives have very little pluck when they are ill, and 

 very quickly give in, which makes it very hard to 

 cure them. 



At three we were on our way again, still following 

 the cattle tracks which led steadily through the bush 

 towards the north-west. My thermometer at noon 

 showed 114° in the shade, but even that does not 

 convey an adequate idea of the dreadful heat ; no 

 breath of wind stirred the leafless branches of the 

 bush, and the dust caused by our passage hung sus- 

 pended in the air like some thin copper-coloured 

 mist. I was feeling far from well myself, having 

 another slight attack of dysentery, brought on prob- 

 ably by heat and fatigue, and I do not suppose I 

 shall ever forget the weary hours that followed. 

 Towards sunset the bush opened out ; we were 

 gradually ascending, and on reaching the top of a 



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