PRECAUTIONS AGAINST MALARIA. 183 



is available the tent-sacks should be stuffed with straw or dry grass ; these 

 will raise the men above the dampness of the ground. Servants are exces- 

 sively careless, and unless the sportsman see after them himself they will 

 take no precautions on their own account. All rank vegetation close at 

 hand should be cleared away, by burning if possible, and the camp should 

 be situated on as high and dry ground as can be found, but must not be 

 exposed to high winds. 



The sportsman should invariably change his clothes and boots if wet 

 from rain or perspiration the moment he comes in ; not go out earlier, nor 

 remain out later in the evening, than necessary ; and have his meals as 

 regularly as possible. It is a good plan to take something, if only a few 

 biscuits, with one, as in the heat of the chase one may lose the men who 

 carry the luncheon-basket. Temperance in the use of liquor is of course 

 absolutely necessary. Everything that tends to debilitate the system renders 

 it liable to the effects of malaria. The sportsman whilst undergoing unusual 

 exposure and hard work can ill afford to be careless in any respect. One 

 frequently feels so well with the pleasant exercise and excitement of a 

 jungle-trip that there is a tendency to excess or heedlessness. 



I always have the water for my own and servants' cooking and dr inkin g 

 boiled and cooled before using. I have been almost exclusively a water- 

 drinker for years, and believe that no one need be afraid of any water if 

 this precaution — or better still, distillation — be adopted. A small still 

 is easily carried about, and the water of any puddle can then be used. 

 The plan of putting brandy into water to kill the deleterious matter is 

 admitted to be perfectly useless. If out early or late, a cheroot is an 

 excellent precaution against breathing the miasma which is prevalent at 

 those hours, or a torch of dried bamboos carried in the hand wiU effectually 

 dispel the cold air. Exposure to dew must be particularly avoided. 



Some sportsmen take two or three grains of quinine daily whilst in 

 feverish localities. It may do good and can do no harm, but it can be 

 of little avail without every precaution in other respects. I was amused 

 on one occasion by two friends who came to my camp for bison-shooting. 

 They were imbued with a wholesome dread of fever, and had brought mth 

 them a large bottle of medicine, in the averting powers of which they placed 

 much reliance, and with which they frequently refreshed themselves. They 

 went to the top of the BiUiga-rungun hills, and in the heat of the chase 

 after bison stayed out in the jungle two nights, sleeping in improvised 

 shelters hardly sufficient to keep off the dew, without a fire, and on the 

 ground ! I had been unable to accompany them ; but when they returned 

 and told me of their doings, and of the constancy with which they had 



