Viewing page 30 of 75

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

#118.

2.
carrier ants to add to the ones that I am gathering for the Museum and Mr. Cobbs told me that he feared that he would have an attack of the "Swamp Fever". He went to his room for his usual nap but later came to our room to tell me that he could not go to the mounds as we had planned to do. His face was livid has be had to go to bed immehiately [[immediately]]. We have spent the [[strikethrough]] balan [[/strikethrough]] bilance [[balance]] of the afternoon attending to him. Mrs. Pepper has kept cold clothes on his head the greater part of the time and I have mixed cooling drinks and read to him. His temperature was 102 at one time and his whole body ached. He has gone to bed now after taking 30 grains of quinine and a horn of the brandy that I brought down from New York. I do hope that he will be better to-morrow [[tomorrow]] morning. I have endeavored to carry on the work that he should do but it is very hard as all of the Indian laborers use a vernacular that even a Spaniard could not understand. The rainy weather continues and it is due to this that so many are sick. It is beyond the memory of the oldest inhabitant and it will be a pretty serious thing if the usual sunshine does not come in the near future.

There are between eighteen and twenty men and women sick here out of a little community of eighty and from two to four are coming down with the fever and bowel troubles every day. We are endeavoring to take care of ourselves and have adopted every precautionary measure possible. we intend to take a large dose of quinine and brandy to-night [[tonight]] and repeat it again to-morrow [[tomorrow]] night. Both are quite well at present and hopeful. Do not mention conditions at the Museum as it might get to our folks in some