Drinking cups should be silver, to contain one pint or more, and to fit
into each other.
A tankard with a very strong hinge to the lid is invaluable to keep out
flies, but the servants will probably wrench the lid off.
Boxes. - Do not attempt to spare money in boxes. They should be of the
stoutest block tin, or of copper, well painted. Tradesmen are apt to do
you in the hinges.
All boxes should lock with brass locks. Shun padlocks. A master-key
should open all your boxes, even should you have a thousand. Each box
should have a pierced metal label slung with wire upon each iron handle.
Painted numbers quickly wear out.
My boxes measured twenty-two inches long, twelve inches deep, fourteen
broad. These were quite invaluable throughout the expedition.
Guns and rifles must depend upon individual tastes. Never possess such
an antiquated affair as a muzzle-loader.
Hollow bullets are quite useless for thick-skinned animals. I like No.
10 rifles, with chambers to contain a cartridge with ten drachms No. 6
powder. Such a rifle must weigh fifteen pounds to shoot accurately.
Axes. - All axes, picks, hoes, &c., should have OVAL holes, but NEARLY
circular, to receive the handles. Natives will break any civilized
method of fitting.
Every soldier should carry a very small, long-bladed, but narrow hatchet
of soft steel.
Feathers. - Preserve all feathers of game, taking care to strip them from
the stems, for making pillows.
The large swing-feathers of geese, bustards, &c., make dusting-brushes,
fans, quill toothpicks &c.
Hale's rockets. - Those which explode are invaluable. Six and
three-pounders are large enough, and are handy to carry.
Norton's pumps were of no use except in sandy or gravelly soil, and they
did not equal my expectations.
Blue lights are quite invaluable if fitted with percussion caps. They
should be packed in a strong tin box, with partitions to contain a
dozen; to be placed near your bed at night.
Lamps. - Should burn either oil or candles.
Burning glasses are very useful if really good. The inner bark of the
fig-tree, well beaten and dried in the sun, makes excellent tinder.
Mosquito gaiters or stockings should be wide, of very soft leather, to
draw over the foot and leg quite up to the thigh joint. These are a
great comfort when sitting during the evening.
Tanned goods. - All tents, awnings, sails, nets, lines, &c., should be
tanned, to preserve them in African climates.
Books. - All journals and note-books should be tinted paper, to preserve
the eyes from the glare, which is very trying when writing in the open
air upon white paper.
Seeds. - Should be simply packed in brown paper parcels sewn up in
canvas, and should never be hermetically sealed.
Blood. - When meat is scarce do not waste the blood. Clean out the large
intestine of an animal if far from camp. This will contain a
considerable quantity, and can be easily secured by a ligature at each
end.
Fish can be preserved without salt, by smoke. They should be split down
the back (not the belly) from head to tail, and be smoked upon a
framework of sticks immediately when caught. Four forked sticks, driven
into the ground as uprights to support two parallel poles, crossed with
bars will form a framework about three feet high; the fire is beneath.
All fish and flesh is thus preserved by the natives when hunting.
Salt. - When efflorescent on the surface of the soil, scrape with a spoon
or shell, and collect it with as little sand as possible. Cut a hole two
inches square in the bottom of a large earthen pot, cover the hole with
a little straw, then fill the pot with the salt and sand. Pour water
slowly over this, and allow it to filter into a receiver below. Boil the
product until the water has evaporated, then spread the wet salt upon a
cloth to dry in the sun.
Potash. - If you have no salt, treat wood ashes or those of grass in the
same way.
Oil. - All seeds or nuts that will produce oil should be first roasted
like coffee, then ground fine upon a flat stone, and boiled with water.
The oil then rises to the surface, and is skimmed off. Unless the nuts
or seeds are roasted, the boiling water will not extract the oil.
Crutches. - To make impromptu crutches to assist wounded men upon a
march, select straight branches that grow with a fork. Cut them to the
length required, and lash a small piece of wood across the fork. This,
if wound with rag, will fit beneath the arm, and make a good crutch.
In this manner I brought my wounded men along on the march from Masindi.
Tamarinds. - Whenever possible, collect this valuable fruit. Take
off the shell, and press the tamarinds into lumps of about two
pounds. They will keep in this simple form for many months, and
are invaluable in cases of fever-cooling when drunk cold, and
sudorific when taken hot. If taken in quantity, they are aperient.
End of Ismailia, by Sir Samuel W. Baker
