SEFARI LIFE 



141 



man much good and yet, many live it. They are like 

 the poor old "chaw bacon" who sat hour after hour, day 

 after day, by his cottage fire. "What do you do sitting 

 there for so long, saying nothing?" "Well, sometimes I 

 sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits." A man is 

 easier to live with, for having kept company for an hour or 

 two with some of those, who, being dead, yet lead us and 

 teach us. 



There are certain things one is accustomed to, at home, 

 which are better left off, here. Cold baths, are unfortu- 

 nately among the number. I suppose a very young and strong 

 man could enjoy his cold tub with impunity for a time, but 

 certain it is, that no one, no matter how hardy, who has 

 been long on the veldt, can take one. Just now we are 

 nursing my friend's hunter, who came down three days 

 ago with a violent chill. We had to cross our mules over 

 a river, running in flood. There had been heavy snow falls, 

 in Kenia, and the snow water loses most of its chill, soon 

 as it leaves the woodland border of the mountain. Still, 

 for African water it was cold. The mules had to swim, and 

 in getting them over, he was, perhaps, for ten minutes, waist 

 deep. A hundred and five degrees of temperature is a heavy 

 price to pay for a cold bath yet he is young and hardy. 

 One friend of mine I persuaded to give up the luxury of his 

 cold douche, till, after an unusually long and hot march, 

 having had time to thoroughly cool off, he could no longer 

 resist the clear brown water, by which our tents were 

 pitched. He came down that night with a heat rash, 

 that made next day's march an experience he is never 

 likely to forget. Cold water is enticing, but avoid it, and 

 take a very hot bath in your canvas bath tub, with a 

 good rub-down, instead. 



Be always careful to look for signs of crocodiles, even 

 on small rivers, and warn your sefari to be careful; the 



