124 
Though I used a glass bath with glass top, and silver wire 
dipper, a kind of scum always formed after a day’s work. 
This had to be cleaned off, and the solution filtered before 
use. Once, after taking three successful instantaneous 
negatives, the bath solution became suddenly turbid, and the 
surface covered with a thick black scum. After filtration it 
worked as well as ever. With this exception, which I can in 
no way account for, the bath was never out of order. 
The tent was always pitched in a shady spot, if possible, 
the ground well watered, and the inside of the tent rubbed 
with a wet sponge to prevent dust. For a few minutes the 
atmosphere was bearable enough, but after a couple of nega- 
tives had been developed it was quite another matter. The 
stopper of the collodion bottle used to blow out, and the 
smell of ether, mixed with cyanide, in such a temperature, 
was anything but agreeable. 
After a little experience, however, I found less difficulty 
in taking good negatives than in this country. Mawson’s 
collodion worked splendidly. The developer I first tried 
was eight grains of iron and twenty drops of acetic acid to 
the ounce of water. This did not answer, so I tried fifteen 
grains of iron and fifteen drops of acetic acid ; and, finally, 
thirty grains of iron, thirty drops of acid, thirty drops of 
alcohol, and two drops of ammonia to one ounce of water. 
Nothing could be better than the last formula. I used it 
afterwards in India both for large and small plates. 
Going up from Hong Kong to Shanghae, most unfortunately 
my bath was left behind. There were plenty of interesting 
objects near Shanghae, and some very fine bridges over the 
canal at a town called Wong-dow, which had been burnt by 
the Taepings. Here I saw a man catching fish with cormo- 
rants, and would have given anything for my camera. There 
was no help for it, so I shot pheasants instead. 
The iS Alabama” was coaling in the New Harbour, Singa- 
pore, when I arrived there on my way to Calcutta. Of course 
my only thought was how to take a picture of her. All my ap- 
