The Zambesi
Water At Other Times Is Almost Chemically Pure, And The Photographer
Would Find That It Is Nearly As Good As Distilled Water For The
Nitrate Of Silver Bath.
A third visit to Kebrabasa was made for the purpose of ascertaining
whether it might be navigable when the
Zambesi was in flood, the
chief point of interest being of course Morumbwa; it was found that
the rapids observed in our first trip had disappeared, and that while
they were smoothed over, in a few places the current had increased in
strength. As the river fell rapidly while we were on the journey,
the cataract of Morumbwa did not differ materially from what it was
when discovered. Some fishermen assured us that it was not visible
when the river was at its fullest, and that the current was then not
very strong. On this occasion we travelled on the right bank, and
found it, with the additional inconvenience of rain, as rough and
fatiguing as the left had been. Our progress was impeded by the tall
wet grass and dripping boughs, and consequent fever. During the
earlier part of the journey we came upon a few deserted hamlets only;
but at last in a pleasant valley we met some of the people of the
country, who were miserably poor and hungry. The women were
gathering wild fruits in the woods. A young man having consented for
two yards of cotton cloth to show us a short path to the cataract led
us up a steep hill to a village perched on the edge of one of its
precipices; a thunderstorm coming on at the time, the headman invited
us to take shelter in a hut until it had passed. Our guide having
informed him of what he knew and conceived to be our object, was
favoured in return with a long reply in well-sounding blank verse; at
the end of every line the guide, who listened with deep attention,
responded with a grunt, which soon became so ludicrous that our men
burst into a loud laugh. Neither the poet nor the responsive guide
took the slightest notice of their rudeness, but kept on as
energetically as ever to the end. The speech, or more probably our
bad manners, made some impression on our guide, for he declined,
although offered double pay, to go any further.
A great deal of fever comes in with March and April; in March, if
considerable intervals take place between the rainy days, and in
April always, for then large surfaces of mud and decaying vegetation
are exposed to the hot sun. In general an attack does not continue
long, but it pulls one down quickly; though when the fever is checked
the strength is as quickly restored. It had long been observed that
those who were stationed for any length of time in one spot, and
lived sedentary lives, suffered more from fever than others who moved
about and had both mind and body occupied; but we could not all go in
the small vessel when she made her trips, during which the change of
place and scenery proved so conducive to health; and some of us were
obliged to remain in charge of the expedition's property, making
occasional branch trips to examine objects of interest in the
vicinity. Whatever may be the cause of the fever, we observed that
all were often affected at the same time, as if from malaria. This
was particularly the case during a north wind: it was at first
commonly believed that a daily dose of quinine would prevent the
attack. For a number of months all our men, except two, took quinine
regularly every morning. The fever some times attacked the believers
in quinine, while the unbelievers in its prophylactic powers escaped.
Whether we took it daily, or omitted it altogether for months, made
no difference; the fever was impartial, and seized us on the days of
quinine as regularly and as severely as when it remained undisturbed
in the medicine chest, and we finally abandoned the use of it as a
prophylactic altogether. The best preventive against fever is plenty
of interesting work to do, and abundance of wholesome food to eat.
To a man well housed and clothed, who enjoys these advantages, the
fever at Tette will not prove a more formidable enemy than a common
cold; but let one of these be wanting - let him be indolent, or guilty
of excesses in eating or drinking, or have poor, scanty fare, - and
the fever will probably become a more serious matter. It is of a
milder type at Tette than at Quillimane or on the low sea-coast; and,
as in this part of Africa one is as liable to fever as to colds in
England, it would be advisable for strangers always to hasten from
the coast to the high lands, in order that when the seizure does take
place, it may be of the mildest type. Although quinine was not found
to be a preventive, except possibly in the way of acting as a tonic,
and rendering the system more able to resist the influence of
malaria, it was found invaluable in the cure of the complaint, as
soon as pains in the back, sore bones, headache, yawning, quick and
sometimes intermittent pulse, noticeable pulsations of the jugulars,
with suffused eyes, hot skin, and foul tongue, began. {1}
Very curious are the effects of African fever on certain minds.
Cheerfulness vanishes, and the whole mental horizon is overcast with
black clouds of gloom and sadness. The liveliest joke cannot provoke
even the semblance of a smile. The countenance is grave, the eyes
suffused, and the few utterances are made in the piping voice of a
wailing infant. An irritable temper is often the first symptom of
approaching fever. At such times a man feels very much like a fool,
if he does not act like one. Nothing is right, nothing pleases the
fever-stricken victim.
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