TREK AND CAMP. ^ 20I 



The first is, that he should not make blind shots, as people are apt to do when 

 they feel themselves lost, for after a series of wanderings he will be more at sea 

 than ever. He should rather sit down and light his pipe, collect his thoughts, 

 and think out the way he came and his best way back. Of all subsequent 

 movements he should take very careful note. 



Secondly, he should plan to hit off some landmark, or series of landmarks, the 

 longer the series the better, such as a path, river, etc., so as to leave more margin for 

 error. When he has finally decided what he will make for he must persevere in that 

 direction for some time after he thinks that he ought to have reached his landmarks, 

 for it will hardly ever happen that he will overestimate the distance to a landmark ; 

 on most occasions he will begin to expect it long before it is due. It is then the case 

 of the " watched pot," and it will seem an infinity of time before he reaches it. 



One of the greatest charms of the trek is the loneliness which it entails. Some 

 of us are gregarious by nature, and others are not. To the latter constant jostling 

 and elbowing with crowds is a source of continual annoyance, if not of actual pain. 

 On trek, when once you have got past the ever-spreading fungus of civilisation and 

 have reached the " beyond," all the cares and worries of a super-civilised life fall 

 away and are completely forgotten. 



There is a never-failing yet ever-differing charm about the wilds which must be 

 known to be appreciated. To be out of touch with civilisation, or, better still, to be 

 in a totally uninhabited country, is to lead a very pleasing existence. 



There are, it is true, the drawbacks of noisy porters who spoil the peace and 

 beauty of the solitudes with hideous rows, but if your tent is pitched at a little 

 distance from them you are spared a certain amount of the noise, and as time goes 

 on you get more or less hardened to the constant babel, or perhaps notice it less, 

 though it must always remain a source of petty worry. 



In spite of the very constant and real annoyance I feel at this continual row, 

 I never attempt to put a stop to it, or, like many men, insist on silence after a certain 

 hour. For so long as I hear them wrangling together and shouting at each other I 

 know that they are happy, contented, and well fed. So long as they do their work 

 well I let them make all the noise they like, excepting only when I am camped near a 

 spot which I expect elephant to visit during the night. To impose silence on a native 

 is to him a very real hardship. 



After all, you escape from the noise during the whole day, when you are 



generally in the open. I usually choose for my companions for the day one porter, 



who will carry water-bottle, camera, and anything else required, and one local native, 



who will show me paths and give me any information required about the country. 



D D 



