Where I Spend an Awful Night. 
219 
mother and now sought to still its hunger at her dried-up breast. Over- 
come with fatigue I fell asleep. When I awoke the night was pitch 
dark and what with the thousands of mosquitoes making a St. Laurence’s 
grill of my shake-down and the cold making its way through the wet 
remnants of my clothes, all idea of rest was out of the question. It was 
an awful time, the horror of which was still further increased by the 
wild flights of imagination caused by the fit of fever that 1 already felt 
within m} r limbs. In every rustle of a leaf upon the ground I feared a 
snake, in every glow-worm whirring through the bush I recognised the 
sparkling and fiery eyes of a jaguar: indeed, in the former case my 
fright increased to a certainty when I felt something cold creeping upon 
me and did not dare to brush it off in case of hastening its deadly bite. I 
sat motionless beneath the forest trees and with bated breath stared 
into the darkness until the whimpering of the little ape, that probably 
missed the accustomed warmth on its mother’s cold body, recalled me to 
my immediate surroundings and to an appreciation of my desperate 
situation. There still remained the hope that Mr. Bach, anxious about 
my absence, would have sent people to look for me: in this I was not 
deceived, for I soon heard the sound of a horn and from time to time the 
report of a gun. My spirits revived. I seized my weapon to answer the 
shot, but the trigger was pulled in vain, the percussion cap snapped 
without effect, and the barrel remained silent. Mad with rage I threw 
away the gun that the rain had rendered useless, the powder having 
turned into pap, and wanting to jump up and hurry after the shots that 
were retreating more and more, found it to be impossible owing to the 
stiffness in my limbs — finally I lost consciousness and resting on the 
dead monkey I sank into a deep sleep. At daybreak I again heard voices 
and shots approaching and my calls were heard at last. I lay about a 
hundred paces from the road, an hour from Mr. Bach’s estate: the little 
monkey was huddled up on my shoulder. They brought me to the house 
where by afternoon T was down with a violent attack of fever that left 
me delirious for several days when my powerful constitution rose 
victorious over the disease and gave me back my life. In company with 
my brother, whom Mr. Bach bad sent for during the period of greatest 
danger, T returned to Georgetown. 
682. The dry season had now set in again and the sombre rain clouds 
disappeared. The following indicate the results of meteorological 
observations for August: — 
Barometer in Inches. Thermometer Fahr. 
Max. 
Min. 
Av'ge. 
Greatest 
Difference. 
Max. 
Min. 
Av’ge. 
Greatest 
Difference. 
30-09 
29-83 
29-949 
0-21 
89 
78 
82-532 
11 
On our departure at the end of December the following were the records 
for September, October and November:— 
