OUTFIT FOR TRAVELLING 355 



four pockets with buttoned flaps, two suits of pyjamas, handerchiefs, 

 socks, etc., would be necessary. The poncho should extend to 

 below the knees, and should be provided with a hood large enough 

 to cover the helmet. It should have no cemented seams ; the 

 material recently adopted by the United States Army for ponchos 

 seems to be the best. For footgear the traveller needs two pairs of 

 stout, high hunting shoes, built on the moccasin form with soles. 

 Hobnails should be taken along to insert if the going is over rocky 

 places. It is also advisable to provide a pair of very light leather 

 slipper boots to reach to just under the knee for wear in camp. 

 They protect the legs and ankles from insect stings and bites. The 

 traveller who enters ti'opical South America should protect his 

 head with a wide-brimmed soft felt hat with ventilated head-band, 

 or the best and lightest pith helmet that can be secured, one large 

 enough to shade the face and back of neck. There should be a 

 ventilating space all around the head-band ; the wider the space 

 the better. These helmets can be secured in Rio and Buenos Aires. 

 Head-nets with face plates of horsehair are the best protection 

 against small insect pests. They are generally made too small and 

 the purchaser should be careful to get one large enough to go over 

 his helmet and come down to the breast. Several pairs of loose 

 gloves rather long in the wrist will be needed as protection against 

 the flies, piums and boroshudas which draw blood with every bite 

 and are numerous in many parts of South America. A waterproof 

 sun umbrella, with a jointed handle about 6 feet long terminating 

 in a point, would be a decided help to the scientist at work in the 

 field. A fine-meshed net fitting around the edge of the umbrella 

 would make it insect proof. When folded it would not be bulky 

 and its weight would be negligible. Such an umbrella could also 

 be attached, with a special clamp, to the thwart of a canoe and so 

 prove a protection from both sun and rain. 



There are little personal conveniences which sometimes grow into 

 necessities. One of these in my own case was a little electric flash- 

 light taken for the purpose of reading the verniers of a theodolite 

 or sextant in star observations. It was used every night and for 

 many purposes. As a matter of necessity, where insects are 

 numerous, one turns to the protection of his hammock and net 

 immediately after the evening meal. It was at such times that I 



