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sick, and I didn't know how seriously.

It was a bad morning for me, with my mind full of worry over Bill, having to face newspaper men and give interviews on the trip, getting our stuff through customs, and making sure from time to time that the animals were all right. Frank Lowe was there to take charge of the animals, and he did a swell job. The animals began to go ashore as soon as we docked, and by ten o'clock were in American Express trucks and on their way. The doctor who took Bill to the hospital last night finally turned up with the news that Bill insisted on coming down to the dock and he came, in a Marine automobile, with a doctor and an orderly, looking too ill for words, yellow as an orange, wobbly, thin, and so full of morphine that he hardly knew what he was doing. Everything was off the dock when he got there, so we had no difficulty in persuading him to go back to the hospital and go to bed. He rested all day, while I went to lunch with the Duval Browns. Mr. Stubbs called for us and took us to the Norfolk boat in the late afternoon, and we put Bill to bed there as soon as he reached the cabin.

The animals survived the trip much better than Bill did.  Our only serious loss was one water chevrotain, which died of an abscess in the breast.  We lost a couple of young civets, he three chameleons, a couple of crocodiles and snakes, but our other antelopes, the ratel, all the monkeys, the monkey-eating eagle, and both hippos seem in fine shape.  We had a difficult time feeding them, as so much of our food supplies spoiled in Monrovia and we were u able to replenish them in Dakar.  The hippos refused rice, cabbage or bananas, eating only sweet and Irish potatoes.  Fortunately the ship had enough potatoes to augment our supply, and I cut up about four buckets full every day for hippos and antelope.  The antelope got very tame, and agreeably ate everything we offered them.  The bananas lasted for the entire trip, which is unusual, and showed good planning and budgeting of supplies by Ralph.  Ralph has certainly been a comfort, always quiet and efficient and optimistic.  One of the enjoyable things of the trip has been to hear him down on his knees in front of a cage talking baby talk to this hippos.  How he loves the slimy ugly beasts!

August 8-

Dr. Wetmore and Mr. Walker met the boat when we got in this morning, and helped Bill off and up to the apartment.  We called Carl Eckhardt immediately, and spent the day arranging for his hospitalization.  It seems too bad that such an interesting expedition should end with his looking like a caricature of what West Africa at [[strikethrough]] his [[/strikethrough]] its worst can do to a man.  We finally got him into Naval Hospital, and I hope he will be contented to stay until he is rested, and properly diagnosed, and fed properly and nursed back to health.  Of course what he really wants is to visit the Zoo!

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