HINTS ON OUTFIT AND EXPENSES. 373 



saw used chiefly a light rifle, such as the Martini- 

 Henry recommended. This is quite safe with any 

 animal except the rhinoceros, elephant and buffalo, 

 and for these I think even a *577 Express (which 

 I carried) is scarcely heavy enough. Probably an 

 8-bore would be best for such game. Of course 

 there are combination guns in existence which 

 profess to be equal to a rifle and shot gun com- 

 bined, but I do not believe they can be as good, 

 and they cost more than double the price of the 

 two separate weapons. 



I found a Winchester very useful for game, but 

 it is specially adapted for accidents with the 

 natives, and if there is little chance of trouble of 

 this kind it is scarcely necessary to take it. 



With regard to scientific outfit, one can do a 

 very great deal, but the collection and prepara- 

 tion usually requires special training, which few 

 possess. Those who do understand thoroughly 

 one branch of science require no hints of mine 

 on the subject. The following may, however, be 

 of use to a pure layman. 



First, with regard to botany ; everything 

 depends on the scale on which you propose to 

 collect. I know of one instance in which about 

 700 numbers, or nearly that number, of species has 

 been collected and dried in a week. I have never 

 managed to obtain more than 2,000 numbers in 

 6 months, but the difficulty increases enormously 

 with time. In a week a very fair knowledge of 



