CHOLERA III 



cholera, whereupon they immediately decamped. I at 

 once informed the manager, who gave the boy a dose of 

 cholera essence, and an hour later he was better. The 

 next morning he was still improving, and on the follow- 

 ing day I saw him waiting at table. 



The resident, Mr, L. F. J. Rijckmans, was kind 

 enough to order the government's good river steamer 

 Otto to take us up the Barito River to Puruk Tjahu, 

 a distant township, where boats and men might be se- 

 cured and where the garrison would supply me with a 

 small escort. Toward the end of August we departed. 

 On account of the shallow water the Otto has a flat 

 bottom and is propelled by a large wheel at the stern. 

 We had 5,000 kilograms of provisions on board, chiefly 

 rice and dried fish, all stored in tin cans carefully closed 

 with solder. There were also numerous packages con- 

 taining various necessary articles, the assorting of which 

 would be more conveniently done in Puruk Tjahu. We 

 also brought furniture for a new pasang-grahan in Muara 

 Tewe, but the steamer could have taken much more. 



The evening of our departure was delightful, and a 

 full moon shed its light over the utan and the river. I 

 occupied a large round room on the upper deck, and felt 

 both comfortable and happy at being "on the move" 

 again. Anchoring at night, there are about five days* 

 travel on the majestic river, passing now and then peace- 

 ful-looking kampongs where people live in touch with 

 nature. A feeling of peace and contentment possessed 

 me. "I do not think I shall miss even the newspapers," 

 I find written in my diary. 



