ENTANGLED VEGETATION 
On October first we had more trouble in cutting our 
way through, as we again found great ferns and palms, 
especially near streamlets of water, and quantities of fallen 
trees, which made us continually deviate from our direc¬ 
tion. The forest was dirty and much entangled in that 
section, and thus made our march painful, liane catching 
my feet and head all the time, tearing my ears and nose, 
especially when the man who walked in front of me let 
them go suddenly and they swung back in my face. 
Thorns dug big grooves into my legs, arms, and hands. 
To make matters worse, the high fever seemed to ex¬ 
haust me terribly. Worse luck, a huge boil, as big as an 
egg, developed under my left knee, while another of equal 
size appeared on my right ankle, already much swollen 
and aching. The huge shoes given me by the trader — 
of the cheapest manufacture — had already fallen to 
pieces. I had turned the soles of them into sandals, held 
up by numerous bits of string, which cut my toes and 
ankles very badly every time I knocked my feet against 
a tree or stone. My feet were full of thorns, so numer¬ 
ous that I had not the energy to remove them. The left 
leg was absolutely stiff with the big boil, and I could not 
bend it. 
Limping along, stumbling all the time in intense pain 
— the boils being prevented from coming to maturity 
owing to the constant cold moisture — I really had as 
painful a time as one could imagine on those long 
marches back. 
On October second we had to cut our way through 
all the time, still marching due east. We encountered 
two high hill ranges, which gave us a lot to do as, in our 
weak condition, we proceeded to climb them. We had 
eaten more food than we should have done, and the result 
was that we now had none left, except a tin of guyabada 
(sweet cheese). I had become almost as improvident as 
the Brazilians when it came to food, as I could not resist 
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