CH.XIX THE TROPICS AND THE CALL 189 



requirement : a man must be so mentally balanced 

 that he can withstand moral temptation in its worst 

 form, and be blessed with that equable temperament 

 which refuses to be worried by the petty disappoint- 

 ments and discomforts inseparable from a pioneer's 

 life. Even then, he must pay ceaseless attention to 

 his physical well-being in order to stand the climate. 

 As for those who are prepared to do this, and feel 

 that they have the other necessary qualifications, let 

 them try the tropics and they will not be disap- 

 pointed ! The question of being able to make a 

 living in the Old Country is no criterion of a man's 

 colonizing capabilities. If he is a waster, stern 

 Nature, I'm afraid, will soon eliminate him ; if his 

 is the temperament that loves action and feels 

 restricted by the monotonous round of life in a 

 great city, if he feels a pressing desire for the wild, 

 and finds solitude a solace instead of a boredom, 

 then he has some of the elements that fit him for 

 ' roughing it ' in the tropics. I think there is a 

 peculiar charm in the freedom of these vast open 

 spaces, the ever-changing scenes that delight the 

 eye, and the little adventures that are inseparable 

 from a wild life. Unfortunately, our old world 

 seems to be getting filled at an enormous pace, 

 and there are few places left where the traveller, 

 seeking the delights of untamed nature, is many 

 days distant from civilization in some form or other. 



