Sorting Notes in the Far Rust. 1 7 



You are therefore very late ; and should there be a companion 

 calling for you from another ship, he is kept waiting in the boat 

 alongside, hurling the early compliments of the season on your 

 sluggard head. And then as you blunder down the gangway out 

 comes that same old excuse ; " Oh ! I'm awfully sorry old chap, but 

 that confounded sentry, &c., c." Poor old sentry ! he is indeed 

 often to blame, but it is not always his fault. 



If you are going for the day ; my advice is, stow your hold well, 

 even if force has to be used. 



I think coffee will be found better to shoot on than cocoa, es- 

 pecially if the day is going to be hot ; and for liquor to drink 

 while shooting, claret and water, or fortified lime juice and water 

 with very little added sugar ; both these are hard to beat. 



Personally speaking, I do not believe in cold tea, it is nauseous 

 to the taste, besides being a very dyspeptic mixture for the eyes 

 but every man to his taste. 



There is no doubt that the longer the first drink can be deferred, 

 the better it is ; as when once the liquor bottle is broached, the 

 more you drink, the more you want. 



When regularly " on the job " whiskey out shooting is a poison- 

 ous compound, except in cold wet weather, when an occasional 

 nip, to keep body and soul together will do no harm. 



In the East ; there is a popular fallacy, against drinking any 

 shore water : but surely a pull from a spring high up on a hillside 



