Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
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"Perhaps," Says Richard Lander, "There Cannot Be A Greater Comfort
Under The Sun, Than Sound And Invigorating Sleep To The
Weary, nor in
our opinion, a greater grievance than the loss of it; because
wakefulness at those hours, which nature
Has destined for repose, is,
in nine cases out of ten, sure to be the harbinger of peevishness,
discontent, and ill humour, and not unfrequently induces languor,
lassitude, and disease. No two individuals in the world have greater
reason to complain of disturbed slumbers or nightly watching, than
ourselves. Heretofore, this has been occasioned chiefly by exposure
to damps, rains, and dews, mosquito attacks, frightful and piercing
noises, and over-fatigue, or apprehension or anxiety of mind. But
now, in the absence of most of these causes, we are cramped,
painfully cramped for want of room, insomuch, that when we feel
drowsy, we find it impossible to place ourselves in a recumbent
posture, without having the heavy legs of Mr. and Mrs. Boy, with
their prodigious ornaments of ivory, placed either on our faces or on
our breasts. From such a situation it requires almost the strength of
a rhinoceros to be freed; it is most excessively teasing. Last night
we were particularly unfortunate in this respect, and a second attack
of fever, which came on me in the evening, rendered my condition
lamentable indeed, and truly piteous. It would be ridiculous to
suppose, that one can enjoy the refreshment of sleep, how much soever
it my be required, when two or more uncovered legs and feet, huge,
black, and rough, are traversing one's face and body, stopping up the
passages of respiration, and pressing so heavily upon them at times,
as to threaten suffocation.
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