204 THROUGH CENTRAL BORNEO 



severe than that which accompanies malaria, a pernicious 

 form of which I once passed through on the west coast of 

 Mexico. Until many months aftenvard I did not know 

 the nature of my disorder, but resorted to the simple 

 remedy always available — to stop eating, as Japanese 

 soldiers are reported to do when wounded. On the fourth 

 day the fever abated, after which improvement was 

 rapid. Two days later my general condition was fair, al- 

 though the lower part of the right leg, especially about the 

 ankle, was red and swollen. I soon felt completely re- 

 stored in spite of the fact that a painless swelling of the 

 ankle remained. 



Two months later I had another attack, as sudden and 

 unexpected as the first. This was ushered in by a chill 

 exactly like that preceding malaria, but the fever that 

 followed was less severe than on the former occasion, and 

 in a few days I was well again. 



More than a year afterward hypodermic injections of 

 sodium cacodylate were attempted with apparent success, 

 though the swellings continued. Many months later an 

 improvement in the condition of the leg was gradually 

 brought about, to which perhaps a liberal consumption of 

 oranges separate from meals, largely contributed. This 

 affection is not common in Borneo. A native authority 

 in Kasungan, on the Katingan River in South Borneo, 

 himself a Kahayan, told me of a remedy by which he and 

 eight other natives had been completely cured. It is a 

 diffusion from three kinds of plants, applied externally, 

 samples of which I took. 



On the last day of April we were able to continue our 



