SEASONS. 14o 



A very important element in the outfit of a tropical planter 

 is a small medicine chest, containing a few of the most suitable 

 remedies for cases of emergency likely to arise in the jungle. 

 Speaking from my own experience of life in the tropics, there 

 is nothing so generally useful and so likely to supply exactly 

 what is required in the way of medicines as Kirby's " Miniature 

 Dispensary," which is a small and very portable medicine chest 

 costing only some 20s. Each chest is supplied with plain direc- 

 tions, or a guide to proper remedies for common ailments, acci- 

 dents, and emergencies, and by means of this convenient addition 

 to one's luggage I have been able to treat immediately the 

 ailments of myself or my servants, which might have become, 

 by delay, very serious. For the information of persons intend- 

 ing to go out to the tropics I may add that the "Miniature 

 Dispensary" can be obtained from Messrs. H. & T. Kirby 

 & Co., 14, Newman Street, Oxford Street, W. 



The best time of year to arrive in British Honduras would 

 be in the cool weather, after the October rains, and during what 

 are generally termed there the winter months. Being entirely 

 within the northern tropics the seasons follow in the order of 

 those of England, with the exception that there are no well- 

 defined differences, except in the matter of slight coolness, 

 between summer and winter. A West Indian winter is still a 

 time of bright sunny weather, a little tempered, however, by north 

 winds, which render the early mornings and evenings quite 

 cool. If the rains are not delayed, the months of November 

 and December are the best to land in and begin life, as river 

 travelling is easy and pleasant. For bush work it is better to 

 choose the dry weather of February, March, and April, when 

 riding through any portion of the colony is practically easy, and 

 camping out unattended by many of the discomforts of the wet 

 season. 



