456 THE GIANT ELAND [ch. xv 
to be once more with those who were dear to me, and 
to turn my face toward my own home and my own 
people. 
Kermit’s and my health throughout the trip had been 
excellent. He had been laid up for three days all told, 
and I for five. Kermit’s three days were due, two to 
tick fever on the Kapiti plains, one probably to the sun. 
Mine were all due to fever; but I think my fever had 
nothing to do with Africa at all, and was simply a recur¬ 
rence of the fever I caught in the Santiago campaign, 
and which ever since has come on at long and irregular 
intervals for a day or two at a time. The couple of attacks 
I had in Africa were very slight, by no means as severe 
as one I had while bear-hunting early one spring in the 
Rocky Mountains. One of these attacks came on under 
rather funny circumstances. It was at Lake Naivasha, 
on the day I killed the hippo which charged the boat. 
We were in the steam-launch, and I began to feel badly, 
and knew I was in for a bout of fever. Just then we 
spied the hippo, and w r ent after it in the row-boat. I 
was anxious to hold back the attack until I got the 
hippo, as when shaking with a chill it is, of course, very 
difficult to take aim. I just succeeded, the excitement 
keeping me steady, and as soon as the hippo was dead, 
I curled up in the boat and had my chill in peace and 
comfort. 
There are differences of opinion as to whether any 
spirituous liquors should be drunk in the tropics. Per¬ 
sonally, I think that the less one has to do with them 
the better. Not liking whisky, I took a bottle of 
brandy for emergencies. Very early in the trip I 
decided that, even when feverish or exhausted by a 
hard day’s tramp, hot tea did me more good than brandy, 
and I handed the bottle over to Cuninghame. At 
