He
Is Certainly Being "Done Well," And He Enjoys The Comfort Of It.
There comes a time when he begins to wonder a little.
It is all
very pleasant, of course, and perhaps very necessary; they all
tell him it is. But, after all, it is a little galling to the
average man to think that of him. Your Englishman doesn't mind that;
he enjoys being taken care of: but the sportsman of American
training likes to stand on his own feet as far as he is able and
conditions permit. Besides, it is expensive. Besides that, it is
a confounded nuisance, especially when potio gives out and more
must be sought, near or far. Then, if he is wise, he begins to do
a little figuring on his own account.
My experience was very much as above. Three of us went out for
eleven weeks with what was considered a very "modest" safari
indeed. It comprised one hundred and eighteen men. My fifth and
last trip, also with two companions, was for three months. Our
personnel consisted, all told, forty men.
In essentials the Englishman is absolutely right. One cannot camp
in Africa as one would at home. The experimenter would be dead in
a month. In his application of that principle, however, he seems
to the American point of view to overshoot. Let us examine his
proposition in terms of the essentials-food, clothing, shelter.
There is no doubt but that a man must keep in top condition as
far as possible; and that, to do so, he must have plenty of good
food. He can never do as we do on very hard trips at home: take a
little tea, sugar, coffee, flour, salt, oatmeal. But on the other
hand, he certainly does not need a five-course dinner every
night, nor a complete battery of cutlery, napery and table ware
to eat it from. Flour, sugar, oatmeal, tea and coffee, rice,
beans, onions, curry, dried fruits, a little bacon, and some
dehydrated vegetables will do him very well indeed-with what he
can shoot. These will pack in waterproof bags very comfortably.
In addition to feeding himself well, he finds he must not sleep
next to the ground, he must have a hot bath every day, but never
a cold one, and he must shelter himself with a double tent
against the sun.
Those are the absolute necessities of the climate. In other
words, if he carries a double tent, a cot, a folding bath; and
gives a little attention to a properly balanced food supply, he
has met the situation.
If, in addition, he takes canned goods, soda siphons, lime juice,
easy chairs and all the rest of the paraphernalia, he is merely
using a basic principle as an excuse to include sheer luxuries.
In further extenuation of this he is apt to argue that porters
are cheap, and that it costs but little more to carry these extra
comforts. Against this argument, of course, I have nothing to
say.
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