ch. ii RELATING TO HEALTH AND CLIMATE 11 
avocations, the answer must be that it depends on 
what are those avocations. Roughly speaking, with 
regard to any but the most severe forms of manual 
labour not accomplished under cover, there is no doubt 
whatever that they can be carried out in perfect health 
and without discomfort. There are, indeed, many who 
say that there is nothing that a man can do in England 
that he cannot do equally well in the Protectorate. 
To me that seems going rather far. I do not believe 
that a man could, for instance, go on ploughing or 
digging all day and day after day without being in 
danger of falling a victim to nervous collapse. Neither 
do I believe that he could do so on the high veldt in 
South Africa ; though there the climate is in some 
respects the finest in the world. Luckily, in East Africa 
there is no need for a man himself to do the manual work 
on a farm. It is essentially an overseer’s country. Once 
the oxen are broken and the native taught, continuous 
manual labour in the sun is no longer necessary. 
Under cover and out of the sun there is no danger in 
hard physical work. Thus an engineer or smith can 
engage in his tasks and suffer no ill effects whatever ; 
though perhaps he might be well advised in not 
attempting too long working hours. Except for any 
heavy continuous work the sun will not affect anyone. 
A man can walk all day, shoot all day, do mixed tasks 
all day and be better for the work. 
Then as to the necessity for a periodical holiday : we 
again have a debatable and much debated point. The 
fact is really that the country is as yet too young in white 
occupation for an authoritative answer to be given. As 
each year we get additional evidence it certainly appears 
more probable that the periodical holiday is more in 
the nature of a luxury than of a necessity. After the 
