While Karl was travelling through Moosejaw, Saskatchewan, he amusingly described his encounter with a multitude of mosquitoes in a letter published in the local newspaper. He claimed to be surrounded by approximately 10,000 mosquitoes per cubic foot. Although the number of mosquitoes may have been significant, the only consequence he experienced was the annoyance of itchy, swollen bites. At that particular time and place, Karl didn't need to worry about disease-carrying mosquitoes, as their presence was relatively low. However, he acknowledged that the risk of encountering such mosquitoes would increase as he ventured to other continents.
Traditionally, disease-carrying mosquitoes were predominantly found in developing countries with hot, arid climates, stagnant streams, and standing water, which provided ideal breeding conditions. However, due to the effects of climate change, the numbers and geographical range of disease-spreading mosquitoes have been significantly impacted. The mosquitoes that can carry Malaria infect over 200 million people annually, of which there are 400,000 deaths every year.
All of this to say, on Saturday, December 29, 1900, the Montreal Daily Star featured an article on page 16 with the headline "Was Ill at Benares." The opening sentence of the article revealed: “Karl M. Creelman was unfortunate on the way to Benares*, India being stricken down with malaria fever.”
Mr. Karl M Creelman was admitted into the Bikrul Dispensary, Benares for malarial fever on the 3rd November 1900 & discharged.
Karl writes:
“I left Buxor on October 31st, expecting to reach Benares that evening. At one o’clock I was compelled to stop as the fever had taken such a hold on me that I could go no further. I lay down in the shade till the following morning when at 6am I started again and progressed for a time. But I lost my head altogether and cycled along paying but little attention where I went to.
Any local who came to be in the road was invariably run down. At one point on the way I met a caravan of camels, the foremost one came into collision with my bicycle and I was thrown off at once and narrowly escaped being trampled on.
Cured on the 19th November 1900. I wish him every success in his attempt and pray God that he may reach his destination safely. Bikrul Dispensary, Beneres, India
Arriving at Benares late at night, I sat down on the first corner I came to. The locals as usual began to collect in large numbers around me. Then with what little Hindustani I knew and with plenty of signs, I sang out “Rusta Munta Hoopah Aspatal” (I want the road to the hospital), one fellow offered to take me there for a few annas. We set off and reached a local hospital that consisted on a collection of stone bungalows where a doctor who could talk English fairly well was found. On examination he said I had “malarial fever” and would have to stop there “for a week or ten days and then would “have to rest for another 12 days” before I could “ride the bicycle again”
“The best accommodation at this hospital is not of the best, but, of course it might be worse. I was given a bungalow to myself and it was full of birds nests. The birds fly in and out all the time through the doorway, over the heads of twenty or thirty young Hindus. Who congregate around to see the sick sahib.”
As a testament to Karl's resilience, he faced his health setback positively and didn't let it dampen his enthusiasm. In fact, he turned the experience into a unique opportunity by having his autograph book signed by the Doctor who treated him.
The mere thought of falling ill while travelling fills me with apprehension. It encompasses far more than just the disruption it poses to my plans and activities; it’s the worry of accessing adequate treatment and care, as well as effectively communicating my symptoms, especially in countries where English is not the primary language. Karl's unfortunate situation resonated with my deepest fears.
Consequently, compounding my perpetual battle with overpacking, my luggage felt unusually heavy when I travelled to India, due to the abundance of prescribed medications I had packed to confront any potential health challenges. Alongside receiving vaccinations for typhoid, rabies, flu, and coronavirus, my inventory included numerous bottles of bug repellent, antibiotics for gastrointestinal issues, and my daily dose of antimalarial pills. While I aspired to have my adventure around the world emulating Karl's, contracting malaria was an encounter I fervently hoped to avoid.
So dear reader, perhaps travelling 120 years after Karl is, in fact, to my advantage. Apart from what I think was altitude sickness or a virus while on a sidetrack adventure in Munnar, I was not ill during my travels in India.
*Benares, now Varanasi
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