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009 - Chapter 5 Part 2 · An Englishman in the French Foreign Legion

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  Speaker 1: Chapter five of A Soldier of the Legion by George Mannington.
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  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter five,
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  Speaker 1: Part two. My new location was a small fort situated
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  Speaker 1: to the northwest on the confines of the Yinte Province,
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  Speaker 1: about sixty miles from Nanam as the crow flies, but
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  Speaker 1: a good eighty by road. Owing to its position in
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  Speaker 1: a rugged forest clad mountainous region, and to its being
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  Speaker 1: surrounded a few hundred yards away by a chain of
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  Speaker 1: rocky heights green with the vegetation which flourished in the crevices,
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  Speaker 1: it was found to be so unhealthy that the military
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  Speaker 1: authorities had up till October eighteen ninety one, contented themselves
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  Speaker 1: with maintaining a garrison of native soldiers there. Owing however,
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  Speaker 1: to the approaching operations against the rebels, and to the
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  Speaker 1: fact that Cho Trang was situated on the left flank
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  Speaker 1: of their positions and close to several paths leading into
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  Speaker 1: their country, it was found necessary to strengthen the force
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  Speaker 1: there for a few months, since by these tracks it
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  Speaker 1: would be quite possible for some of the Chinese vans
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  Speaker 1: established in the hills around Langsong to come to the
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  Speaker 1: assistance of Denam from Nanam our detachment marched via Kao
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  Speaker 1: Twang to Fu Lang Twang. Whence we served as an
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  Speaker 1: escort to a convoy going to Langthong. We went by
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  Speaker 1: the famous Mandarin Road, which had been the scene of
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  Speaker 1: the retreat of General dene Jeer's army in March eighteen
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  Speaker 1: eighty five. Our rate of progress was a slow one,
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  Speaker 1: for the vehicles we escorted were heavy carts drawn by
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  Speaker 1: tame buffaloes or native wheelbarrows of a most peculiar pattern,
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  Speaker 1: constructed entirely of bamboo and ironwood without a single nail
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  Speaker 1: or screw. The wheel consisted of a big wooden disc
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  Speaker 1: about three feet in diameter, which revolved on a teak
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  Speaker 1: axle and produced a loud, scratching noise as these clumsy
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  Speaker 1: carriages trundled over the rough road. The regulation load for
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  Speaker 1: these barrows was about one hundred eighty pounds, and to
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  Speaker 1: each of them there were two Chinese coolies. One pushed
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  Speaker 1: the barrow from behind with a strap, each end of
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  Speaker 1: which was attached to a handle passed over his shoulders
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  Speaker 1: and thus relieving the wheel of some of the weight carried,
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  Speaker 1: and another was in front hitched to a rope tied
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  Speaker 1: to the horn of this prehistoric little vehicle. The creaking
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  Speaker 1: of the wheels and continued yelling chatter of the Chinese
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  Speaker 1: created a perfect pandemonium of sound. Our convoy was more
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  Speaker 1: than two miles long, so that when the head had
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  Speaker 1: reached a halting place and its escort was able to
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  Speaker 1: obtain rest and refreshment, the unfortunate soldiers in the rear
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  Speaker 1: were still toiling slowly along and would arrive at an
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  Speaker 1: adept to find that only a short space of time
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  Speaker 1: remained for them to refresh their tired legs and empty stomachs.
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  Speaker 1: After cap the scene of Major du Gens Reverse in
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  Speaker 1: June eighteen eighty four, the road passed through a stretch
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  Speaker 1: of scenery wild and magnificent. By a succession of loops
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  Speaker 1: and curves, the root rose and passed round the flank
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  Speaker 1: of one mountain after another. Sometimes the convoy crept slowly
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  Speaker 1: over small bridges spanning mountain torrents overhung with dense tropical vegetation.
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  Speaker 1: Now the road would wind through beautiful thickets of bamboo,
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  Speaker 1: so dense that it would have been impossible to penetrate it.
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  Speaker 1: At times we skirted deep woods and charming combs full
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  Speaker 1: of thick undergrowth, palms and creepers. Often the track dipped
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  Speaker 1: and traversed fine valleys covered with waving jungle grass. Beyond
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  Speaker 1: this could be seen a vista of hills overrun with
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  Speaker 1: black forest, or chain upon chain of massive rock a
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  Speaker 1: thousand feet eat high, all bedecked with variegated foliage. On
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  Speaker 1: or near the track. There were few signs of animals
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  Speaker 1: of bird life, with the exception of the ubiquitous sparrow
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  Speaker 1: and the ever present kite, though the vanguard occasionally disturbed
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  Speaker 1: a flight of chattering parakeets or scared away small herds
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  Speaker 1: of deer, which, with a few bounds would disappear into
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  Speaker 1: the jungle. We halted at cap sweet Gog and back
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  Speaker 1: lay and passed the night in the forts of these places.
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  Speaker 1: Here the convoy was packed in an enclosure surrounded by
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  Speaker 1: a high bamboo fence, fires being kept burning all night
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  Speaker 1: to scare away tigers and panthers, as there were many
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  Speaker 1: in the jungle along the road. The coolies on their
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  Speaker 1: arrival were told off into squads, and the daily ration
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  Speaker 1: of rice and salt fish was served out to them.
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  Speaker 1: This they cooked in copper pots, and the men of
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  Speaker 1: each squad squatted round the fires awaiting their evening meal,
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  Speaker 1: while one of their comrades, who acted as cook for
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  Speaker 1: the occasion, kept stirring the stew with a bamboo stick.
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  Speaker 1: Most of these celestials were paul well made men, whose
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  Speaker 1: lower limbs were abnormally developed, a natural result of the
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  Speaker 1: calling they followed, and like the majority of their race,
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  Speaker 1: they evidently possessed a strong dislike to soap and water,
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  Speaker 1: for they were extremely filthy. They were clothed, like the
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  Speaker 1: men of the mountain tribes in this region of the Tonkin,
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  Speaker 1: in a costume consisting of a vest and pantaloons of
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  Speaker 1: blue cotton cloth, which in most cases was in a
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  Speaker 1: terribly ragged condition. For pay, they received twenty five cents
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  Speaker 1: per diem, about five pence plus their daily rations. The
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  Speaker 1: meal finished, the majority indulged in a few pipes of
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  Speaker 1: cheap opium locally known as si, and the surface of
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  Speaker 1: the compound was starred over with the numerous tiny twinkles
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  Speaker 1: of their little lamps. These went out one by one,
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  Speaker 1: and before midnight the camp was plunged in silence and slumber,
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  Speaker 1: The naked limbs of the sleeping coolies having the appearance
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  Speaker 1: of old ivory or new bronze in the flickering glimmer
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  Speaker 1: of the watch fires round which they reclined. Then the
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  Speaker 1: stillness of the night would be broken only by the
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  Speaker 1: song of the scalis, the crackle of burning wood, the
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  Speaker 1: occasional call of the sentries, and the far away kopcop
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  Speaker 1: cop of a tiger hunting in the hills at Bactlee.
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  Speaker 1: Our detachment left the convoy, and abandoning the high road,
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  Speaker 1: we struck off due north by a small path which
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  Speaker 1: led to cho Trang. We set out before daybreak so
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  Speaker 1: as to avoid marching in the midday heat, and were
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  Speaker 1: accompanied by a guide and several coolies bearing lighted torches
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  Speaker 1: made of split bamboo as a precaution against wild beasts.
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  Speaker 1: Cho Trang is about twelve miles from the Langson Road,
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  Speaker 1: and the track we followed passed for nine of these
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  Speaker 1: through a succession of jungle covered valleys and over hills
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  Speaker 1: hidden in primeval forests of teak, panion, iron wood and
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  Speaker 1: palm trees, some of which were of enormous size with
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  Speaker 1: an impenetrable undergrowth of fern, interlacing creepers orchids, and spiked
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  Speaker 1: rattan in these woods, the light of day was almost
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  Speaker 1: shut out by the dense foliage. No birds seemed to
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  Speaker 1: live there, and the strange, weird silence was only broken
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  Speaker 1: now and again by troops of chattering brown monkeys, which,
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  Speaker 1: disturbed by our approach, would scuttle away through the branches,
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  Speaker 1: jumping from one bough to another with their usual agility
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  Speaker 1: and maintaining the while such grotesqueness of face and demeanor
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  Speaker 1: that our laughter was frequently provoked. When we had marched
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  Speaker 1: about five hours, for during the darkness the pace had
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  Speaker 1: been a slow one, we found ourselves close upon the
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  Speaker 1: rocky chain all ready described, which exactly resemble the pinnacles
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  Speaker 1: which rise in hundreds from the sea in a long bay.
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  Speaker 1: This strange configuration is known as the Nui Duang Ni,
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  Speaker 1: and its jagged ridges run east from this point right
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  Speaker 1: through tong Kin into Kwang Sea, and also far north
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  Speaker 1: to the heart of the province of cow Bang. We
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  Speaker 1: traverse the first chain through a pass known as the
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  Speaker 1: Deo Monpieux, which in some places is so narrow that
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  Speaker 1: a native pony can only just squeeze between the projecting boulders.
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  Speaker 1: This narrow cleft is evidently the thousands of years old
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  Speaker 1: work of the waters which have eaten away through the
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  Speaker 1: carsarious rock. Indeed, there rushed through the pass a rapid
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  Speaker 1: though narrow stream, wherein we had to wade knee high
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  Speaker 1: between these high stone walls. The scenery possessed a savage
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  Speaker 1: grandeur I have never seen equalled, and the semi darkness
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  Speaker 1: of the narrow way produced a most awesome effect. A
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  Speaker 1: few lines from La mort de Roland, recited by a
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  Speaker 1: comrade during one of the short halts we made, produced
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  Speaker 1: such a feeling of intense sadness that I was glad
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  Speaker 1: when our little column broke out of these weird surroundings
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  Speaker 1: into the bright sunshine beyond. From the pass, which was
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  Speaker 1: nearly a mile long, we debouched into a little circular
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  Speaker 1: plain with a superficial area of about one and a
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  Speaker 1: half square miles. It was surrounded by high rocky walls,
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  Speaker 1: to all appearances without a break in them, and the
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  Speaker 1: fort of chou Trang was situated almost exactly in the
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  Speaker 1: middle of the plain. We found that the position was
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  Speaker 1: a solid one. It was rectangular in form, with a
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  Speaker 1: small bastion at each angle, and the fortification consisted of
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  Speaker 1: a well built parapet and ditch round which ran the
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  Speaker 1: usual bamboo palisade. Our little detachment of thirty men was
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  Speaker 1: lodged in a big one room time of clay and
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  Speaker 1: bamboo thatched with macaw palm. It had evidently been prepared
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  Speaker 1: for our use, for it was clean and freshly whitewashed,
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  Speaker 1: and contained the necessary bedding and mosquito nets for the detachment.
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  Speaker 1: The fort was in command of a lieutenant of the Tirieuse,
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  Speaker 1: a Tonquin Noise, an eccentric individual who had a strong
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  Speaker 1: aversion to the legionaries. Not that he was unnecessarily harsh
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  Speaker 1: or unjust towards us, but he had a mania for
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  Speaker 1: openly expressing a want of competence in our discipline, which
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  Speaker 1: wounded the pride of the men of our detachment, the
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  Speaker 1: majority of whom soon hated him most cordially. He was married,
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  Speaker 1: according to native custom, to a Tonkinese woman who was
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  Speaker 1: living in the fort, and this, added to the fact
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  Speaker 1: that he was an opium smoker, did not aid in
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  Speaker 1: increasing the small respect with which he was regarded by
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  Speaker 1: the legionaries. Strict orders had been given by the general
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  Speaker 1: commanding the brigade that we should not be overworked whilst
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  Speaker 1: staying in this unhealthy spot, so that our life was
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  Speaker 1: rather a quiet and monotonous one. The only exciting incident
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  Speaker 1: that happened during my stay here was an attack made
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  Speaker 1: on the cattle stockade by two black panthers. One of
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  Speaker 1: these beasts succeeded in gaining an entrance and killed a bullock.
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  Speaker 1: He paid for his daring with his life, however, and
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  Speaker 1: was riddled with bullets by some legionaries who had been
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  Speaker 1: awakened by the cries of the native century. The nights
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  Speaker 1: were gradually becoming cooler, for we were now in the
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  Speaker 1: middle of October, and life was rendered unpleasant by the thick,
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  Speaker 1: damp mists which hung continually over our position. Owing to
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  Speaker 1: the high walls of rock surrounding the little plain upon
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  Speaker 1: which the fort was built, there was little or no breeze,
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  Speaker 1: so that these fogs hung about us till late in
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  Speaker 1: each morning, when the midday heat of the tropical sun
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  Speaker 1: dispelled them. No doubt this was one of the principal
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  Speaker 1: causes of the prevalence of fever in this district, another
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  Speaker 1: being that the water used by the troops, though it
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  Speaker 1: came from mountain streams and was apparently limpid was strongly
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  Speaker 1: impregnated with copper, of which metal there were considerable traces
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  Speaker 1: in the soil of the region. Filters were provided for
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  Speaker 1: the garrison, and the troops were not allowed to use
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  Speaker 1: any water, either for cooking or drinking, unless it had
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  Speaker 1: been previously boiled. Even these precautions did not suffice to
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  Speaker 1: avoid disease, for when our detachment had been three weeks
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  Speaker 1: in Coltrang, more than half of its effective was laid
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  Speaker 1: up with fever, which takes a most virulent form in
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  Speaker 1: this district. Its commencement, like ordinary malaria, is generally announced
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  Speaker 1: by shivering fits, during which the sufferer experiences a sensation
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  Speaker 1: of extreme cold. The hands and feet are numbed and glacial.
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  Speaker 1: The teeth chatter continually, notwithstanding the fact that the thermometer
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  Speaker 1: in the veranda is often in such cases at ninety
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  Speaker 1: five degrees. This is succeeded at the end of an
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  Speaker 1: hour or more by a feeling of burning heat. Perspiration ceases,
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  Speaker 1: the sufferer's temperature rises to over one hundred. He is
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  Speaker 1: a victim of terrible pains in the head and is
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  Speaker 1: often delirious. At Cho Trang, this condition was usually complicated
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  Speaker 1: by hematuric symptoms, which fortunately do not occur in the
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  Speaker 1: majority of cases of ordinary jungle fever. There was no
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  Speaker 1: doctor in the fort. Indeed, it would be impossible to
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  Speaker 1: maintain a medical officer in each of the numerous small
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  Speaker 1: garrisons in Tongkin, and it was the lieutenant who examined
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  Speaker 1: the sick men and served out the medicines provided by
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  Speaker 1: the authorities without stint. In such cases, commanders of forts
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  Speaker 1: are furnished with a manual which is well written and
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  Speaker 1: gives in the clearest of terms, explanations concerned earning the
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  Speaker 1: symptoms and treatment of the different tropical and other diseases
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  Speaker 1: they will most probably be called upon to treat. Definite
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  Speaker 1: instructions are also given in this little book to the
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  Speaker 1: officers concerning the transfer of the men to the nearest
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  Speaker 1: hospital center whenever there are signs that the disease from
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  Speaker 1: which they are suffering is of a persistent or malignant form.
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  Speaker 1: Though these recommendations are not always adhered to, it would
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  Speaker 1: hardly be fair in such cases to censure the commanders,
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  Speaker 1: since it often happens on numerous removals of this kind
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  Speaker 1: being made that the officer receives blame from headquarters for
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  Speaker 1: having neglected to take the necessary precautions to ensure the
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  Speaker 1: satisfactory sanitation of his post, whereas in most instances the
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  Speaker 1: epidemic has had its origin in the unsanitary position of
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  Speaker 1: the fort or the dangerous composition of the soil it
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  Speaker 1: was built on. It was noticeable that the first among
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  Speaker 1: my comrades to fall victims to sickness were the younger
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  Speaker 1: members of the detachment. When they had a strong and
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  Speaker 1: healthy constitution, they generally recovered, and though the fever clung
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  Speaker 1: to them for six months and sometimes more, during which
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  Speaker 1: period the attacks gradually decreased in force and occurred at
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  Speaker 1: longer intervals. They eventually became seasoned, and the fever seemed
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  Speaker 1: no longer to have any hold on them. I know
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  Speaker 1: of a good many men who have served four consecutive
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  Speaker 1: years in the colony, and who, after paying a heavy
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  Speaker 1: toll to malaria during the first year or eighteen months,
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  Speaker 1: have never again been troubled by the disease. Hard drinkers
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: were longer in resisting the attacks of the fever fiend,
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: but once the illness had a hold upon them, the
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  Speaker 1: results were generally fatal. One of the peculiarities of the
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  Speaker 1: jungle fever in any form is that the sufferer loses
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  Speaker 1: all appetite. Indeed, he usually exhibits almost a loathing for
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  Speaker 1: any kind of food. It is therefore necessary to maintain
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  Speaker 1: his vitality, which rapidly sinks under the repeated attacks of
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  Speaker 1: the disease. To obtain this result, liberal allowances of liquid
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  Speaker 1: food are administered to the patient. In Tongkin, milk, either
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  Speaker 1: fresh or condensed, was the diet most frequently prescribed, and
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  Speaker 1: in most cases with excellent results, except when the sufferers
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  Speaker 1: happened to be confirmed alcoholic subjects. Then the patients would
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  Speaker 1: either refuse to take milk for which they possessed a
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  Speaker 1: decided repugnance, or they would be unable to keep and
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  Speaker 1: digest it after having forced themselves to swallow it. It
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  Speaker 1: is easy to understand that, owing to the number of
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  Speaker 1: men incapacitated through sickness, the duties of the few available
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  Speaker 1: for service were considerably increased. It was no unusual occurrence
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  Speaker 1: to find oneself detailed for guard three times in one wills,
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  Speaker 1: and it was only by reducing things to their strictest
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  Speaker 1: limit that sufficient men could be found to escort the
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: convoy which was brought from back lay every Thursday. The
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  Speaker 1: convoy was absolutely necessary, for we depended on this weekly
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  Speaker 1: service for our supply of food. A reserve stock of flour, wine, rice, coffee,
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  Speaker 1: sugar and salt, sufficient to feed the members of the
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: garrison for three months was stored in the fort, but
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  Speaker 1: this was only to be drawn upon in cases of
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  Speaker 1: extreme urgency, such as siege or blockade. It was during
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  Speaker 1: this trying time that I was able to appreciate the
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  Speaker 1: good fellowship, an unobtrusive self abnegation possessed by the majority
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  Speaker 1: of my comrades. In many instances of their kindly spirit
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: came under my observation. Whenever a man detailed for service
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: fell sick shortly before going on duty, and this was
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: by no means a rare occurrence, a chum would at
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  Speaker 1: once cheerfully volunteer and take his place, though as often
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  Speaker 1: as not he had himself just come off convoy or
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: guard duty, or was recovering from an attack of fever.
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  Speaker 1: The able men not on duty, they were, generally but few,
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  Speaker 1: neglected their own comfort and sacrificed their rare hours of
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: rest to attend without murmur to their stricken comrades, and
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  Speaker 1: did their best in their rough but kindly way to
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: lighten their sufferings. It was a quaint and touching sight
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: to watch one of these bearded mercenaries as he passed
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: from cot to cot, and note his efforts to repress
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: his own impatience and clumsiness as he piled blanket after
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: blanket on a shivering sufferer, changed the damp linen of
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: another who had broken into the beneficent sweat that denoted
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: the termination of an attack, or calmed with a voice
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: which he tried to render gentle the ravings of a
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: delirious friend, standing the while to change every few minutes
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: the wet bandages on the burning brow the stricken one.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: With that gentle care, the weak ones would be lifted
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  Speaker 1: into a sitting position, and how patiently, with cheery, though
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  Speaker 1: perhaps clumsy jokes, would the self appointed nurses encourage their
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: patients to drink the cup of milk which suckored the
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: ebbing strength, or the boiling liquid that provoked the saving perspiration. Alone.
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  Speaker 1: Mon vieux, you're not dead yet. The tree is not
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: grown from which your pine overcoat will be made. Courage,
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: take this, and tomorrow you will feel so well that
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  Speaker 1: you will want to go on convoy guard, so as
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: to see that little brown conche that rinked at you
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: at the last time we were at Baucley Slide dog
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: bah or bi a quah. Hold on, mona me, there's
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: a lot more wine in the storeroom that wants drinking.
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  Speaker 1: Don't desert us. We shall never get through it without
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: the help of your steep throat. Often I will laugh
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: at their coarse wit, though a big lump in my
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: throat betokened another kind of sentiment. Yet one might be
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: joyful at the evidence of the vast store of human
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: kindness possessed by these rough soldier folk, which, though hidden
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: till now, came splendidly to the fore in this time
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: of common misfortune. On the twentieth November, as I was
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: sitting on a stool close by the door of the fort,
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: for I was feeling decidedly queer, having just recovered from
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: a third severe attack of fever, the native sentry, who
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: was posted on a little wooden platform about twenty feet high,
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: supported on four bamboo poles and fitted with a thatched roof,
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  Speaker 1: informed me with a shout that he could perceive a
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: troop of European soldiers accompanied by two mounted officers coming
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: out of the pass towards us. I was in charge
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  Speaker 1: of the guard for the day, so I sent off
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: Atteriea to inform the commander. A few minutes later, the
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: two officers, seen by the sentry, came galloping into Chotrangue
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: on their ponies, and my surprise was great in recognizing
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: Captain Plecier and Surgeon Jolye. As they came through the gate.
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: I rose and saluted our captain drew up his little
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: mount with a jerk, and, after looking hard at me
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: for a few seconds, exclaimed, mon dieux, doctor, why this
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: is our Englishman? But how changed? Why the man is
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: as yellow as a buttercup and as thin as a
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: vine pole. While he was speaking, the doctor had dismounted,
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: and after throwing the reins to a native soldier who
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: stood by, he came over to me. After consulting my
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: pulse and looking at my tongue, he turned to Captain
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: Plecier and said, this man is in a high fever
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: and ought to be in bed. He questioned me concerning
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: the date on which I had had my first attack,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: and obliged me also to give him other details concerning
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: my malady. Then he walked off and rejoined our captain,
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: who had gone on to the quarters of the lieutenant
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: in command of the fort. A few minutes later, a
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: sergeant came up to the guard house and told me that,
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: on the doctor's advice, the lieutenant had given orders for
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: me to be relieved, and he, the sergeant, had been
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: instructed to tell me to go to bed. I was
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: not sorry for this, for I was feeling very unwell,
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: and when one of my comrades put in an appearance,
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: I passed the service on to him, hurried away to
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: my hut, and was soon lying on my cot under
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: a pile of blankets in anticipation of the attack of Agu,
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: which was already giving me signs of speedy approach. I
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: had not been there long before Captain Placier, accompanied by
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: our surgeon, came into the room. They visited the sick
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: men who were in their cots there were nine besides myself,
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: and then came over to me. After examining me again,
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: the doctor said this man should be sent down to
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: the nearest hospital as soon as possible. He might leave
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: with us tomorrow morning. We have not sufficient coolies to
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: carry him, replied our captain, and it would take at
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: least two days to get some from bach Lee. He
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: reflected a little in the nas meat. Can you ride, yes,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: mon Capitan, I answered, well, doctor, I think the best
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: thing will be to put him on my spare pony,
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: continued our chief. That is, if you think he can
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: stand the ride and one of our coolies can carry
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: his baggage. And Doctor, yes, I think we can risk it,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: for it is better to get him away from here
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: as soon as possible, answered Monsieur Jolie. No sooner had
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: our officers left the room than several of my comrades
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: set to work to pack my kit, for I was
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: now in a high fever again and consequently too weak
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: and ill to attend to this operation myself. As they
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: bustled about, these good hearted fellows with many good natured
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: jokes concerning my coming journey to the seaside, congratulated me
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: on my luck, and did their best to encourage me
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: to get to sleep so as to gain strength for
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: my long ride on the morrow. We started early the
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: next morning, and though I was glad to leave the
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: salih Dreux, as my comrade termed the fort, I was
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: sorry at the thought that they would have to remain
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: for several weeks longer in this unhealthy spot. Doctor Jolie
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: had announced the previous evening to the other sick men
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: that they would be removed as soon as sufficient coolies
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: could be obtained for their transportation. My mount was a
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: big tartar pony whose only fault consisted in a persistent
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: desire to leave the path and gallop through the forest.
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: He succeeded in taking me unawares the first time, and
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: my helmet was knocked off, and I was nearly brained
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: by the bough of a tree. Like most of these
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: little horses when they have been in the hands of
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: the natives, he possessed a terribly hard mouth, so that
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: what with this and the fever which had again taken
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: a hold on me, I experienced a s a somewhat
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: lively journey. We reached Cap at four in the afternoon,
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: and here I was put into a carriage on the
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: little railway to Lang Song, which was then in course
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: of construction, and had reached this point twelve miles from
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: Fulangtong a few days previously. At Cap, I said goodbye
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: to my comrades who formed the escort, and thanked our
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: captain and doctor for their kindness. I afterwards learned that
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: I had indeed reason to be grateful to them for
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: my speedy transference. For a week elapsed before sufficient coolies
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: could be obtained to transport the other sick men from
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: Cho Trang, and one of the poor fellows died during
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: the journey. On the arrival of the train at Fulangtrong,
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: a stretcher was in readiness for me, instructions to that
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: effect having been telegraphed from Kep, and I was carried
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: to this hospital. This establishment was virtually sort of base
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: ambulance from which the patients whom the doctors considered in
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: need of a long treatment and change of climate, were
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: sent to Haiphong or kwang Sin. It was, however, well built,
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: possessed an efficient staff of surgeons and nurses, and was
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: so fitted up that every colonial disease or casualty likely
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: to occur during a campaign could be dealt with under
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: the best of conditions. A great deal of money and
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: attention is expended by the French government in the building
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: and fitting up of the hospitals in Tonquin, and the
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: doctors are well trained, clever and conscientious men. I remained
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: here for a fortnet, during which time I do not
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: think the fever left me for an hour. Indeed, during
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: the first six days I was almost continuously unconscious. I
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: was treated with the utmost kindness and care, both by
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: the surgeons and sisters. These excellent women, who belong to
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: the Roman Catholic Order of Saint Vincent de Paul, do not, unfortunately,
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: possess the same scientific knowledge of medical nursing as our
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: British hospital nurses. But they are untiring in the care
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: which they give to the patients, and their unstented efforts
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: to relieve the suffering are worthy of the highest praise.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: During that period of my illness, when the fever was
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: at its worst and I was almost constantly delirious, it
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: seemed to me that there were moments when some section
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: of my intellect, escaping from the frenzy which possessed my brain,
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: succeeded in retaining its lucidity, and was able to obtain
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: control over a portion of my personality, inspiring it with
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: a power to think and see independently of, and, as
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: it were, apart from the remainder of my suffering organism.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: So vividly did this impression assert itself that to this
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: day I can remember hearing my own ravings and mentally
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: consoling myself with the thought that they were merely the
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: results of delirium. I would at such times watch the
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: terrifying hallucination conjured up by the malady with a perfect
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: knowledge that they were the results of an imagination distorted
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: by the fever which possessed me, and at the same
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: time find means to take notice of a tiny lizard
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: as it crawled searching for mosquitoes up the curtains surrounding
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: my bed, the flickering night light, the crucifix hanging on
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: the whitewashed wall in front of me, or the sister
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: on duty as she moved silently from cot to cot
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: to administer medicine or to assure herself that her patients
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: were asleep, and whose picturesque costume, white cornette and collar
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: reminded me of the poem The Black Musketeer in the
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: inglesby legends. My experience is by no means unique, for
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: several of my friends, who have also been victims to
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: jungle fever, and with whom I have compared notes, have
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: been impressed by phenomena of a similar description. When my
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: daily temperature began to take a slow, but decidedly downward curve.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: The head doctor informed me that I was to be
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: sent to the hospital at Guangzien, a small town situated
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: on the coast not far from Atlong Bay, where, said he,
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: aided by the sea air, I might possibly succeed in
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: shaking off the malaria. Though he told me that he
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: was noting my clinic sheet to the effect that he
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: considered it advisable to send me back to Algeria as
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: soon as I could support the voyage. I felt much
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: disappointment at this information, though I recognized this kindly intention,
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: but it was far from my wish to return so
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: soon to Africa, and I determined to make every effort,
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: in the event of my getting rid of the fever,
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: to induce the doctors at Kwangyin to allow me to
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: remain in Tonkin, for I still hope to participate in
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: the coming winter campaign in the Yene, the prospect of
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: which had been a constant topic of conversation with my comrades.
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: A few days later, I was carried on board a
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: river steamer, but during the journey I fell so ill
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: again that I was put on shore at Haifong, and
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: remained three days in the hospital there. However, at the
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: end of that period I was sufficiently recovered to continue
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: my journey and eventually reached kang Yen on the twelfth
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: November end. Chapter five, Part two,