ns repeating themselves daily, especially between the dates
of September 8th and September 24th. Those letters were written long
before anybody knew that I had ever suffered from starvation in the
forest. It is quite remarkable that, except the crocodiles--which, of
course, were not to be found in the forest--they reproduced the
conditions with wonderful faithfulness, the telepathic connection having
in that case been established vividly at a distance of several thousand
miles.

[Illustration: Colonel R. P. Brazil and his Charming Wife.]

CHAPTER XXII

Baggage saved--The Journey down the Tapajoz River--Colonel
Brazil--Wrecked--From Itaituba to the Amazon--Benedicto and the
Man X are discharged

OCTOBER 6th and 7th I spent inside a hammock. I was in such a high fever
and so absolutely exhausted that I believed I should never be able to
pull through. Albuquerque and his wife were kindness itself to me, and
looked after me most tenderly. While I had been away a trading boat had
passed. That boat would be on its way down the river again in a few days.
I thought I would take advantage of this to go down as far as the mouth
of the Tapajoz on the Amazon in her.

On the evening of October 7th, Benedicto, who was a great glutton,
prepared a huge bowl of the _mamao_ fruit stewed and sweetened with
quantities of sugar. I had obtained from Albuquerque some tins of
shrimps, lobster and salmon, butter and jam--all condemned stuff from
some ship--and I gave all my men a feast. Benedicto brought me some of
the sweet he had prepared, and it looked so tempting that, ill as I was,
I ate a quantity of it. After dinner I persuaded my men to go back to the
forest to recover the baggage they had abandoned there. Tempted by a
present of money I offered them if they would bring it back safely, they
all agreed to go.

On October 8th, however, when the men were to start, the man X had a
severe colic. He rolled himself on the ground in great pain, and refused
to go.

The strong fever had finished me to such an extent that I did not think I
should last many hours longer. Albuquerque and his wife stood by my
hammock watching me, Albuquerque shaking his head compassionately, asking
me if I wanted to write a last word to my family, which he would send
down by the trading boat when she arrived. I well remember hearing his
voice faintly, as I was in a half-dazed condition. I had not the strength
to answer. As he walked ou