_March 3, 1808_, I was married to Mrs. Allan. This is the circumstance I told you to mark before we left England, after I had obtained liberty from Colonel Stewart for her to go with her husband. But I had then very little knowledge that I was taking out a wife for myself, and one too, that was to be the means in the hand of Divine Providence of prolonging my days, for had it not been for her nursing care, I must, in all human probability, have gone the way of hundreds of the regiment, as I had much severe trouble after I was joined to her. She had no children, save one daughter that was left at home with her grandfather, whom I may have occasion to speak of afterwards. I was in a very poor state of health when married to her; for the complaint I caught in the frigate had never left me, and I really had at that time more need of a doctor than a wife; but I knew her to be an excellent woman, and as she had no objections to me as a husband, I could have none against her as a wife; but happily for me I found in her both a doctor and a wife, and I daily recovered and enjoyed a tolerable state of health for some time.
_May 22._--The government at Madras being informed by our returns that we were in a very bad state of health, sent an order for us to proceed to Sadras, a seaport, for the benefit of our health. At this time we could not muster five hundred effective men in a regiment upwards of a thousand strong; but we were now doomed to still more lamentable misfortunes, for more than three hundred men fell sick the first day's march; chiefly of brain fevers, attended with a dreadful discharge from the bowels, and twelve men belonging to the regiment died the same day: six of whom marched to the ground with their arms and accoutrements. The heat was intense, with scarcely a breath of air, and any that there was, was as hot as if it had issued from a baker's oven. One of our men who had formerly been in the country fourteen years, with the 74th regiment, said that he never recollected of having suffered so much in one day from heat. Many of the men had recourse to throwing water upon themselves, but they could get no relief from this expedient, because it was quite warm; and what added much to their distress, was the utter want of perspiration. My wife also suffered much from a checked perspiration, and I thought of a method that gave her great relief, which was this; I dipped a hand towel in water, and gave it a slight wring, and stood over her while she lay upon the ground, waving it backward and forward; this, from the quick evaporation, cooled her greatly, and gave her considerable relief. My comrades also, to whom I mentioned it, derived similar benefit from this plan. The men who were very bad, were taken into marquees erected on purpose for them; but this expedient, which gave many who were not very ill considerable relief, was of no use to them. All that the surgeon (for we had only one with us) could do for them, was to let blood at the temples, and having filled two large marquees with those who were worst, the rest had to assist one another in their tents the best way they could; but at last the doctor falling ill himself, had recourse to bleeding his own temples by the assistance of a looking-glass, and lay down amongst the rest of the sick men. Thus, being deprived of all medical assistance, and many of the men running about mad, and others dying in the marquees before the Colonel's eyes; he was so overcome by the sight that he could not refrain from tears. The poor unhappy creatures who were attacked with this temporary derangement, had in general some idea that they were not in their own country. One of these runaways being asked where he was going, said, that he was going to Europe; and added, that if he was once there, he would soon be well again. However, when the cool of the evening arrived, a number of the men got considerably better; about mid-day when the men were in such an alarming state, the Colonel had sent off an express to the commandant of Wallajahbad, describing the melancholy situation of the regiment; and we immediately received medical assistance, and more doolies and waggons to carry the sick, with an order to return to our barracks. This was welcome news for us; and we accordingly returned to Wallajahbad the next day, carrying along with us one hundred and fifty sick men who were unable to march.