xvi BIG GAME AND BIG GAME HUNTING 169 



being past-masters in the art of serving up a perfect 

 curry, cooking a fowl, or roasting a joint of buck, 

 civilization has few advantages to offer in the 

 matter of food. On safari, and when tracking- 

 elephants, as time does not permit of the cooking 

 of a solid meal, I have to be contented with picnic 

 fare, and I find that during a spell of strenuous 

 work there is nothing so energizing as a mixture of 

 cocoa and sugar taken at intervals. In the even- 

 ing, when I have finished my day's work and 

 bathed, I always indulge in a stiff whisky and 

 soda ; with dinner, I regularly consume half a 

 bottle of port wine (it really is port wine), and ere 

 retiring to bed another strong peg or two of whisky. 

 For a few months' hunting, it is quite immaterial 

 what one eats or drinks, but I find that, to endure 

 month in month out, year in year out, the arduous 

 work and strain of elephant hunting in a hot and 

 enervating climate, a considerable quantity of 

 alcohol is absolutely essential to my physical well- 

 being, and seems to help in the assimilation of my 

 food and give me refreshing sleep at night. Of 

 course, during actual work and in the heat of the 

 day, alcohol is certainly prejudicial, and when in 

 a temperate climate I feel little or no desire for 

 stimulants in any shape or form. After years of 

 this dietary and hard life, I feel in perfect physical 

 condition, and a recent medical examination 



