SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. 61 



A supply of each should be included in the medicine chests of 

 travellers in districts where blackwater fever is prevalent. 



"With regard to the subject of alcohol there is much difference 

 of opinion, but it appears to be firmly established that in unhealthy 

 districts heavy drinkers and teetotalers are generally the first to 

 fall victims to the climate. The writers do not attempt to account 

 for this, but merely place it on record in order to emphasise that 

 the sensible temperate man, has far less to fear from climatic 

 influences than extremists or faddists. 



In the absence of vegetables many white men in the back woods 

 of South Africa take to drinking native beer or even mahaeuw 

 (fermented grain). It was formerly hard to account for this taste, 

 but recent investigations at the Lister Institute show that these 

 native beers and fermentation products from sprouted grain are 

 very rich in vitamines, in fact more so than the lime juice of 

 commerce, which evidently accounts for the development of this 

 taste in Europeans deprived of ordinary vitamine bearing food. 



To those who are fond of tobacco that weed is an absolute 

 necessity when in the wilderness ; any harm it may do being amply 

 compensated for by the feeling of comfort which it produces. For 

 native employes also an ample supply of tobacco should be carried. 



8. ARMS, AMMUNITION, FIELD GLASSES, COMPASS, 

 SIGNALS, GRASS FIRES, DOGS. 



While it is very unlikely that the traveller will ever find it 

 necessary to use arms against natives anywhere in the country under 

 description, it is advisable in the more remote districts to carry a 

 rifle, preferably one of simple pattern, designed for regulation 303 

 ammunition (sporting bullets), as this can be obtained from one end 

 ef the country to the other. 



For sporting purposes and as a protection against wild animals 

 and snakes a double-barrelled 12-bore shot gun (left barrel slightly 

 choked) and plenty of cartridges loaded with S. S. G. buckshot, 

 NO. 3 and N. 6 are essential. Cartridges should be packed in air- 

 tight tins or wrapped in waterproof packages. Waterproof covers 

 or cases should be provided for the guns, and in wet weather these 

 should be carefully cleaned and oiled every evening. 



Fancy guns and rifles, though they may be most excellent weapons 

 of extreme accuracy, are not advised as they are not "fool" proof, 

 cannot easily be repaired and the ammunition is probably unobtainable 

 locally. 



