TREK AND CAMP. 205 



whif?s of which are very unappetising during meal-times. Some of the coast natives 

 are very cleanly in their persons and habits, but even with them their houses are 

 dirty and unclean. Most inland natives are filthy in their habits and manner of 

 living. Some of them never wash at all, smear themselves over with fat or 

 odoriferous oils, and if they have any clothes these are practically never taken off, 

 night or day, till they drop off with age. 



There are people with whom it is a mania to try to make out that the black 

 man is equal to, if not superior to, the white man in both morals and habits. 

 These people maintain that it is only a difference of habit whether one cleans 

 oneself with water or plasters oneself with fat and mud, and that if we think the 

 black man smells, he also thinks we smell equally badly. That we may smell to 

 the black man I am quite ready to admit, but there is this distinct difference all 

 the same, for whereas the strong smell of black man is most offensive to the 

 average white man, I have never been able to detect a native show the least 

 discomfort at the near presence of a white man. The odour of raw natives close 

 round one, packing up the tent and loads in the early morning, is quite sufficient to 

 prevent one from eating any breakfast when not feeling very fit ; but with natives, on 

 the contrary, once they have got over their first feeling of shyness at the presence 

 of the white man, they seem rather to prefer his proximity than to avoid it. 



I have often been out on a very hot day with a couple of local savages and 

 sat down to rest under the shade of some small bush, and they have come and 

 huddled themselves close up against me, one either side, although there was plenty 

 of other shade to be had. On getting up and going to another tree they have 

 followed me and again sat quite close to me. No doubt they have been prompted 

 purely by a spirit of friendliness, but it was none the less trying on a hot day, 

 when one wanted to get all the air possible. 



Obtaining food for porters always involves intervals of delay and trouble. If 

 visiting uninhabited parts or places where the natives are pastoral or averse to 

 selling food, the simplest plan is to have a few donkeys, and packs of food 

 slung on each side of the animals. These loads can be obtained at the last Indian 

 store touched at, and are generally fairly cheap. Though more expensive than they 

 could be bought from natives of the country, the delay and worry in inducing 

 natives to bring in food is not worth the few extra rupees involved. Beans and peas 

 keep best, and can be packed in sacks, though the men like flour for a change 

 of diet, and for packing this a few green waterproof rotproof bags are invaluable. 



When you are long away from all stations, and intend going farther afield, food 

 must be obtained from natives. To procure such necessaries, it is essential that 



