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my own collodion on arriving out, or at least to mix the 
iodisers myself. My knowledge of chemistry being very 
limited, the prospect of turning collodion manufacturer was 
anything but agreeable. Nevertheless, I laid in a stock of 
ether and alcohol, and all sorts of iodides and bromides. Gun 
cotton I did not trouble my head about, though where I ex- 
pected to find any in Singapore is more than I can now 
remember. Fortunately my skill was never put to the test. 
In this country Thomas’s collodion with magnesium iodiser 
had always been my favourite, but after a few weeks of hot 
weather the loss of sensitiveness is very great ; therefore, in 
addition to several pounds of Thomas's collodion packed in 
tin cases with sawdust, I took a quantity of Mawson’s. This 
was ordered specially for India. Nothing could possibly 
work better than it did : it was perfection. All the other 
chemicals required — such as nitrate of silver, pyrogallic and 
acetic acids. &c. — should be taken from this country* They 
are to be had in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the principal 
towns in India ; but the prices usually charged are ruinous, 
and no purchaser can tell how long the article he requires 
may have been in stock. 
The most important matter, after all, is the choice of 
cameras, lenses, and a good dark tent. The tent I used was 
Smartt’s, made by Murray and Heath. The time required 
for setting it up and arranging the bath and developing 
bottles in their proper places is about five minutes. Murray 
and Heath also supplied me with a square bellows camera 
for 11x9 plates, fitted with Dallmeyer’s No. 3 triplet and 
Grubb’s C lens, together with a field box for chemicals and 
glass plates. Mr. Rogerson made all the rest of my apparatus, 
viz., a rigid stereoscopic camera, with rack-and-pinion, fitted 
with Dallmeyer’s single and combination lenses, plate boxes, 
and draining boxes for holding negatives in the field. These 
draining boxes are also most useful for carrying negatives on 
a long journey, such as the overland route, and will stand 
almost any amount of knocking about without injury to the 
