CHAPTER XIX 
THE TROPICS AND THE CALL 
It seems to be the general opinion in Europe 
that those who spend the greater part of their lives 
in the tropics eventually come back to northern 
climes morally and physically bankrupt, and this 
conception is, no doubt, founded on a considerable 
basis of truth. Many who return from tropical 
countries have acquired a ‘ liver,’ and the sallow 
skin and hollow eyes accompanying that complaint, 
to say nothing of the various frailties that fever 
leaves in its wake. Tropical Africa is, without a 
doubt, a hard task-master, and demands certain 
qualifications in those who wish to live and pioneer 
successfully in that continent. The physical weak¬ 
ling, and those who cannot get along without the 
good things of this life, had better stay away : they 
will only go to join the long list of victims that the 
trying climate of the equator claims, year in, year 
out, Nor i§ sound physical equipment the only 
188 
