CLIMATE AND NATURAL HISTORY. 219 
abstention is as harmful as riotous excess. Let every - 
man judge for himself and follow implicitly within due 
bounds the dictates of his stomach—that is when he has 
no reason to believe he is prompted by unhealthy 
cravings. If you conceive a great love for jams and 
sweet biscuits, indulee in them till satiety begins to take 
the edge off your greediness, and in all probability this 
desire for ‘“‘ sweets” is prompted by a necessity for sugar 
in your system. Avoid alcohol as much as you can. It 
is almost a case in which abstention is excusable, for wine 
and brandy are dangerous adjuncts to a healthy man’s 
repast in Africa. On the other hand, alcohol is simply 
invaluable as a tonic when weak from fever or other 
causes. Beer, in my own case, proved beneficial and 
agreeable, but with others it provoked biliousness. Wash 
in warm water rather than cold, dress warmly and sleep 
well covered; satisfy all reasonable and natural desires, 
and you will find life on the Congo both healthy and 
enjoyable. 
The great fault of the climate lies in the excessive 
damp. Even in the dry season there is great moisture in 
the air, for, though there is no downright rain, yet the 
mornings and evenings are ushered in by dense white 
mists, like low-lying clouds, which incessantly filter 
through the clammy atmosphere a drizzling vaporous 
spray that descends over everything like a heavy dew. 
This is the “cacimbo” of the Portuguese colonies and 
the “smokes” of the Guinea coast. These morning 
and evening mists are characteristic of the rainy season, 
and during the rainy months they disappear, and the 
beginning and closing ol the day is generally bright and 
clear. 
The relative length of the rainy season varies as you 
advance from the mouth of the Congo towards the 
equator. Near the sea there are about four months of 
rain—November, December, February, and March—with 
an intermediate dry season in the month of January; but 
ascending the river you find this gradually altering, and 
on Stanley Pool the rains commence in Qctober and 
