Introduction xxvii 



by a medical man who has had experience in 

 the Tropics, because such a person can 

 approach the subject with much more con- 

 fidence and success than a man who has only 

 hearsay knowledge. For those who are in- 

 clined to ridicule this idea of a good examina- 

 tion before setting out, I will mention that 

 it has unfortunately been my lot to witness 

 many hundreds of sad cases where the change 

 proved fatal within a very short while. Young 

 and most promising lives were cut off in their 

 prime just because they were not suitable. 

 The last resting-places of all our Colonies are 

 full to everlasting sadness of the graves of 

 such people. I will, of course, not assert 

 that the initial pronouncement of fitness con- 

 veys an infallible guarantee of immunity far 

 from it ; it is only the prime and essential 

 requirement. 



With regard to hints on general conduct 

 in the Torrid Zone, I would say that the 

 conduct of the individual and his personal 

 behaviour have a very great deal to do with 

 his welfare and well-being. So many thousand 

 rules have been laid down for the conduct of 

 the "new chum" that it is hard indeed to 

 separate the chaff from the grain. The 

 demand for young blood in this and kindred 

 tropical industries has become so large, and the 

 attractions themselves for the work are so 

 great, that the majority, in their eagerness to 

 get there, are apt to neglect the most important 



