from
his illness, declared his willingness to accompany me; in fact I knew
that he would never allow me to go without him. He was quite miserable
at the idea of our parting, which was close at hand. As luck would
have it, the day before we decided to start, Vic was down with fever
again, and the following day I was seized with it. Never before or
since have I been amongst so much fever as I was in this district. In
any case I had made up my mind to see these Buquils, but we had now
lost two days, and there was only just enough time left to get there
and back and to journey back to Manila and catch my steamer. The day
after my attack we started for the mountains once more at about two
p.m., my fever being still too bad for me to start earlier. It had
been very dry lately, with not a drop of rain and hardly a cloud to
be seen, but just as we were starting it came on to rain in torrents
and this meant that the rainy season had set in. It seemed as if the
very elements were against us, and even Vic seemed struck with our
various difficulties. I was sick and feverish, and my head felt like a
lump of lead, as I plodded mechanically along in the rain through the
tall wet grass. I felt no keenness to see these people at the time,
fever removes all that, but I had so got it into my head before the
fever that I must go at all hazards, that I felt somehow as if I was
obeying someone else. We passed my old residence a short way off, and
I stayed the night at the Negrito chief's hut, which I reached long
after dark. He seemed very glad to see me again, and turned out most
of his family and relations to make room for me. My troubles were not
yet ended, as the two Filipinos whom I had engaged to carry my food
and bedding could not start till late, and consequently lost their
way, and were discovered in the forest by some Negritos, who went in
search of them about 2 a.m. Meanwhile I had to lie on the hard ground
in my wet clothes, and as I got very cold a fresh attack of fever
resulted. I had intended to start off again about four a.m., but it
was fully four hours later before we were well on our way. I managed
to eat a little before I left, our rice and other food being cooked
in bamboo (the regular method of cooking amongst the Negritos). I here
noticed for the first time the method employed by the Negrito mothers
for giving their babies water; they fill their own mouths with water
from a bamboo, and the child drinks from its mother's