THE EUROPEAN SETTLERS 167 
I was going to have a tremendous cold. I am staying at Major McClear's and he told 
me at once I was in for a dose of fever, made me go to bed, gave me a purge and put 
hot-water bottles at my feet. Then I began to get awfully hot —my temperature went up 
to 102 degrees—and after that came a sweat which soaked all the bed clothes, and then 
I felt a bit better and wanted to get up but they advised me to stay in bed. I seemed 
all right the next morning except that my ears were singing, but towards evening again 
I felt beastly bad. I went to bed and vomited ever so many times, and thought I was 
going to die. A doctor came to see me and found my temperature 103 degrees; he 
brought it down with a dose of phenacitine. Eventually I got to sleep and woke up 
much better, but I was down again the third day though not so bad. After that I felt 
sharrer’s store at katunga 
very weak and looked very yellow for a day or two, and then my appetite came back and 
now I am just as fit as it is possible to be—a tremendous appetite and think the country 
is the finest in the world though I can tell you whilst I had the fever on me I made an 
awful ass of myself, telling them all I was going to die and sending all sorts of messages 
to my people! I hear everybody does that when he has fever and no one seems 
inclined to make fun of you on that account. 
“Well: I have bought my land—500 acres at 55. makes ^125. I shall have to pay 
the Stamp Duties and eventually the cost of a survey. All this will come to about 
another ^20—say in all ^150. I have arranged to live with old McClear (it is awfully 
kind of him to propose it) and learn the business whilst my own estate is being got 
ready. He will give me a room and my board, and during all the time that I can spare 
off my own land I am to help him and his son on their estate; this of course will teach 
me something about coffee planting. 
“ Blantyre is not half a bad place but it seems to me a good deal of hard drinking 
