THE HEALTH OF THE CACAO ESTATE 29 



and exhibits a dissatisfied spirit, complaining of everything 

 and generally making himself and others uncomfortable, 

 acclimatisation comes slowly, and sometimes serious 

 matters happen before he becomes reconciled to his 

 surroundings. To him who sets himself to make the best 

 of everything from the start, acclimatisation comes readily, 

 and he is more quickly prepared to meet the dangers 

 to which in every country flesh is heir. 



Excess of every kind should be avoided. It is a great 

 temptation to the European living in a hot country to 

 indulge in bathing to an intemperate amount, and if this 

 becomes habitual it is sure to weaken the constitution and 

 to prepare the subject for any attack of infection that may 

 come along. Numerous instances are on record of the 

 occurrence of serious results from intemperate bathing 

 after unusual exertion. In such case it is much better to 

 be satisfied with a fully cleansing sponge bath * than to 

 resort to the plunge and shower so often indulged in with 

 serious results. But what about the reaction, says our 

 bather ? Yes, what about the reaction ? we reply. Do 

 you not realise that to cause a reaction you must first have 

 an action, and that this action is only obtained by the 

 expenditure of energy, and that such an expenditure is 

 often far from being conducive to health under tropical 

 conditions ? Those who live beside a flowing stream 

 often indulge for lengthy periods in the plash of the 

 sparkling pool ; but we invariably find that the offender 

 is one of the first to be affected by an attack of tropical 

 disease, while if he confines himself temperately to a 

 morning dip of short duration he generally runs free from 

 attack. 



Intemperance in drinking is more responsible for ill- 

 health than any other cause. Hot weather, as we all 

 know, causes intense thirst, and one is tempted with cool 

 drinks of all kinds, from whisky and soda to ice water, 

 the latter being relatively as bad as any. Ice water 

 drunk in quantity is highly detrimental to health, but, 

 • In any case the skin must, of course, be kept well cleansed daily. 



