CHAPTER XIX 



THE TROPICS AND THE CALL 



IT seems to be the general opinion in Europe 

 that those who spend the greater part of their lives 

 in the tropics eventually come back to northern 

 climes morally and physically bankrupt, and this 

 conception is, no doubt, founded on a considerable 

 basis of truth. Many who return from tropical 

 countries have acquired a 'liver,' and the sallow 

 skin and hollow eyes accompanying that complaint, 

 to say nothing of the various frailties that fever 

 leaves in its wake. Tropical Africa is, without a 

 doubt, a hard task-master, and demands certain 

 qualifications in those who wish to live and pioneer 

 successfully in that continent. The physical weak- 

 ling, and those who cannot get along without the 

 good things of this life, had better stay away : they 

 will only go to join the long list of victims that the 

 trying climate of the equator claims, year in, year 

 outt Nor is sound physical equipment the only 



