FURTHER EXPLORATIONS IN THE LAND OF THE INCAS 439 



the results of "trusting to luck" and "liv- 

 ing as the natives do" means not only 

 loss of efficiency in the day's work, but 

 also lessened powers of observation and 

 diminished enthusiasm for the drudgery 

 of scientific exploration. 



Exciting things are always easy to do, 

 no matter what you are living on, but 

 frequently they produce less important 

 results than tasks which depend upon 

 daily drudgery ; and daily drudgery de- 

 pends upon good daily food. 



THE QUESTION OF RATIONS 



In 1 91 5 each unit food box, as we have 

 intimated, provided a balanced ration for 

 two men for eight days, breakfast and 

 supper being hearty, cooked meals, and 

 luncheon light and uncooked. It was not 

 intended that the men should depend en- 

 tirely on the food boxes, but should vary 

 their diet as much as possible by what- 

 ever the country affords, which in south- 

 ern Peru frequently means potatoes, corn, 

 eggs, mutton, and bread. Nevertheless 

 each case contained sliced bacon, tinned 

 corned beef, roast beef, chicken, crushed 

 oats, milk, cheese, salmon, coffee, sugar, 

 rice, army bread, salt, sweet chocolate, 

 assorted jams, pickles, dried fruits, and 

 vegetables. By seeing that the jam, dried 

 fruits, soups, and vegetables are well as- 

 sorted, a sufficient variety is procured 

 without destroying the balanced character 

 of the ration. 



On account of the great difficulty of 

 transportation in the southern Andes we 

 have had to eliminate from the unit cases 

 foods that contain a large amount of 

 water and relatively little nutriment, like 

 French peas, baked beans, canned fruits, 

 etc., however delicious and desirable they 

 may be. We found it -possible, however, 

 to add somewhat to the variety by pro- 

 viding in our warehouse at headquarters 

 a few cases of luxuries which could be 

 drawn upon from time to time, including 

 such things as butter, tea, catsup, kip- 

 pered herring, sausages, and pancake 

 flour. Whenever a party went out for a 

 new trip they were encouraged to take 

 several pounds of "extras" along, in or- 

 der to break the monotony of the food 

 boxes. Undoubtedly there is much to be 

 gained in keeping up the spirits of the 



men by providing an appetizing variety 

 on the table. 



The most highly appreciated article of 

 food in the entire list was oatmeal, which, 

 on account of being partially cooked, is 

 readily prepared in an attractive manner, 

 even at high elevations, where rice cannot 

 be properly boiled. 



On the other hand, it was difficult to 

 satisfy the members of the expedition by 

 providing the right amount of sugar. At 

 the beginning of the field season the al- 

 lowance — one-third of a pound per day 

 per man — seemed excessive, and the di- 

 rector was criticized for having over- 

 loaded the boxes with too much sugar. 

 But after a month in the field the allow- 

 ance proved to be too small and toward 

 the end of the expedition had to be sup- 

 plemented. 



In addition to the food, we have found 

 it advisable to include in each box a cake 

 of laundry soap, two yards of dish towel- 

 ing, and three empty cotton-cloth bags, to 

 be used for carrying food, collecting 

 specimens, etc. 



PRECAUTIONS AGAINST DISEASE 



While the food taken on an expedition 

 largely determines the general health of 

 the members, it cannot entirely take the 

 place of medicines and bandages. Each 

 camping party was provided with a "first- 

 aid" outfit, and every man carried in his 

 personal luggage a pocket medicine case 

 containing quinine, aspirin, bismuth, 

 compound cathartic, bichloride of mer- 

 cury for wounds, and permanganate of 

 potash for snake bites. 



Furthermore, from previous experi- 

 ence we knew that it would be a great 

 advantage to the expedition to establish 

 a small dyspensary at headquarters, 

 where the residents of the vicinity would 

 be welcome and where a small supply of 

 drugs and bandages would always be ac- 

 cessible. We knew that our headquarters 

 would be at least 30 miles from the near- 

 est drug store. Accordingly, our medical 

 equipment was selected with this in mind. 

 In addition, our surgeon was supplied 

 with an African tropical field equipment. 

 carried in a steel chest designed to with- 

 stand the hardest kind of usage and to 

 meet all ordinary emergencies. 



