290 
FEVER, 
tiling at hand which I shall need during t 
fever, and put dry garments within reach. The 
perspiration which follows is surprisingly profuse. 
It is no exaggeration to say that one lies as wet 
as if pails of water had been poured on the bed ; 
towels placed round the neck to catch the 
streams from the head are soaked in a quarter of 
an hour as if they had been lifted from a wash- 
tub ; and when one has been rolled on to a dry 
mattress and assisted into other garments, the 
feeling of comfort is as if one were being tended 
after having been saved from drowning. This 
is the only pleasant moment during the whole 
attack, and I miss the care which I have never 
lacked in a stage of weakness when, to say the 
least, it would be grateful. 1 miss, too, the 
spoonful of nourishing soup which relieves the 
sinking faintness that succeeds the weakening 
attack. One would rather want it than make 
the effort to prepare it one's self. 
Severe attacks begin with violent retching and 
acute rheumatic pain, to which delirium invari- 
ably succeeds. In Timor-laut 1 lay within the 
sound of the lapping waves, and I used to im- 
agine that I was standing on the shore watching 
my head float out over the sea. I was ever 
making distressing efforts to follow it and keep 
