CHAPTER XXIV 
Attacked by Beri-beri—A Journey up the Madeira River to the 
Relief of Filippe the Negro and Recovery of Valuable Bag¬ 
gage left with him — Filippe paid off — A Journey up the River 
SOLIMOES-I QUITO S 
I ARRIVED in Manaos in the evening of November 
fifteenth. I was very ill indeed, my right foot so 
swollen that I could hardly stand on it, and so painful 
that I could not put on a shoe or even a slipper, so that I 
had to hop about with only a sock over it. The doctor 
on board had told me that I was suffering from beri¬ 
beri, and although I tried not to believe him I was gradu¬ 
ally forced to the conclusion that he was right. In fact, 
atrophy set in by degrees — one of the characteristics 
of beri-beri being that after a time you feel no pain at 
all. You can dig a pin into the affected part, or pluck 
off all the hairs without feeling the slightest pain. I was 
in a bad way, though I was never laid up for an entire day. 
From the moment I arrived I “ got busy,” to use an 
American expression, in order to go to the rescue of 
Filippe the negro and another man I had left in charge 
of my valuable baggage near the mouth of the Canuma 
River, a tributary of the Madeira. It was necessary for 
me to borrow or charter a steam launch for one or two 
days, so that I could save men and baggage. I applied 
to the Governor of the Amazonas, who had received tele¬ 
graphic instructions from the Central Government to give 
me every possible assistance. When I called upon him 
he said he was not the “ black servant ” of the President 
of the Republic; that he was practically an independent 
349 
