108 EAST PRUSSIA TO THE GOLDEN GATE 



the sailors, was followed even by those who had not been 

 active in the gymnastics, I being one of them. We seated 

 ourselves comfortably in the deck-cabin and chatted 

 around the wine and cognac bowl. Notwithstanding the 

 rather mixed elements out of which this original ''hedge- 

 ale-house" assembly consisted, it was happy and har- 

 monious, though there would perhaps have been more 

 hilarity if it had not been for the sufferings of one of our 

 fellow-passengers, a certain Nabholz from Khenish Bava- 

 ria, who had been taken sick about a week before with 

 nervous prostration; this dampened the general merri- 

 ment and gave the whole proceeding a somewhat strained 

 aspect. No one realized at that time that we would be 

 witnesses of a depressing, almost terrible solemnity, with- 

 in two days thereafter. 



Nabholz passed away about noon on Sunday, the 20th 

 of July. Most of the passengers had the comforting rec- 

 ollection of having done their utmost to relieve him. To 

 do more or even to give material aid was beyond their 

 power— beyond all human strength. Even the physician 

 who had accompanied us hither, could assist the patient 

 very little, as the supply of medicine was so scant that 

 one hardly could get the most common home-remedies, 

 notwithstanding the boasting announcements of the ship- 

 broker. Thus all depended upon the good constitution 

 of the patient, which in this case failed even to respond 

 to the earnest endeavors of the physician. Nabholz be- 

 longed to those unfortunates who are ignorant of the fact 

 that the hot zone is an open grave for Europeans who 

 have previously suffered from a certain class of diseases. 

 These ills will re-appear, though very often under differ- 

 ent form, and death is the unavoidable consequence in 

 ninety-nine out of every hundred cases. 



Though we all felt quite depressed at the death of 

 Nabholz, we were comforted by the fact that his loss of 

 consciousness at the very beginning of his sickness re- 

 lieved him of that dreadful feeling of loneliness and help- 

 lessness which he would otherwise have felt. His burial 

 took place on the same day, about six o'clock in the 



