Page:Seven Years in South Africa v1.djvu/488

 half of a large meadow, was a carpet of fiery red, set in a frame of verdant sward, and enclosed with the dark green foliage of the mimosa. This spectacle of beauty was caused by masses of flowering aloes, which sent forth their gorgeous spikes of blossom some three or four feet above the cluster of prickly leaves. Where the aloes were thickest, I noticed that they were not unfrequently overhung by a beautiful sulphur-coloured creeper.

An attack of illness on the 28th made me discontinue our march. Whether it was the result of my continuous exertions, or the effect of the miasma of the district, or whether I had taken a chill from the dampness of the places in which we had camped, I cannot tell, but certain it was that I found myself quite unable to move, and had to be lifted out of the waggon; a violent sickness came on, my head became as heavy as lead, and I was quite incapable of answering the numerous questions which my friends in their anxiety kept putting to me. My senses soon quitted me altogether, and for two hours I lay in a condition of delirium, from which I was only roused by being vigorously bathed with cold water. Boly sobbed aloud in his distress. F. ran hither and thither like a madman, and Eberwald showed me such sympathy and unremitting attention as endeared him to me more than ever. Recovering my consciousness, I resolved to bleed myself. Iwas quite satisfied that no gentler measure could relieve the extreme pressure of blood on the head. The operation was quite successful, and im-