CHAPTER I 



FITNESS AND GENERAL HEALTH 



Keeping fit and in health are the two principal 

 matters that make or mar an expedition. 



Keeping fit to stand the strain of long tramps over 

 a rough country, the change of food, to have a continual 

 reserve of endurance, and to be able always to keep 

 in good spirits. 



Good health, to enjoy thoroughly every minute of 

 the trip, and to appreciate to the full the truly delight- 

 ful days of the winter season in the tropics or the 

 clear, cold, keen days of other climes. 



Most of us flatter ourselves we are fit, and so we 

 are for the life we lead at home ; but long days in the 

 office and travelling to and from the City by train or 

 motor, big lunches, and bigger dinners are liable to make 

 one soft, and on suddenly going off for a shooting trip, 

 and plunging directly into camp life and hard walking, 

 we soon realize that we are not so fit as we had 

 thought. This does not, however, mean that the 

 intending hunter need fast and take to long, hard 

 walks, or in any way suddenly change his mode of 



2 I 



