SOUTH AMERICA. 



155 



hut, which, m tunes long past, had served for a store to Third 



Journey. 



keep provisions in, there hved a coloured man and his 



wife, by name Backer. Many a kind turn they did to 

 me ; and I was more than once of service to them and 

 their children, by bringing to their relief, in time of 

 sickness, what little knowledge I had acquired of 

 medicine. 



I would here, gentle reader, wish to draw thy atten- Raiment 



'~ and diet, 



tion, for a few minutes, to physic, raiment, and diet. 

 Shouldst thou ever wander through these remote and 

 dreary wilds, forget not to carry with thee, bark, lauda- 

 num, calomel, and jalap, and the lancet. There are no 

 druggist shops here, nor sons of Galen to apply to in time 

 of need. 1 never go encumbered with many clothes. A 

 thin flannel waistcoat under a check shirt, a pair of 

 trowsers, and a hat, were all ni)'^ wardrobe : shoes and 



stockings I seldom had on. In dry weather they would 

 have irritated the feet, and retarded me in the chase 

 of wild beasts ; and in the rainy season they would have 

 kept me in a perpetual state of damp and moisture. I eat 

 moderately, and never drink wine, spirits, or fermented 

 liquors in any climate. This abstemiousness has ever 

 proved a faithful friend ; it carried me triumphant 

 through the epidemia at Malaga, where death made 

 such havoc about the beginning of the present century; 

 and it has since befriended me in many a fit of sick- 

 ness, brought on by exposure to the noon-day sun, to 



