All Either Man Is Justified In Saying Is
That He, Personally, Wouldn't Get Much Fun Out Of Doing It The
Other Way.
As a matter of fact, human nature generally goes
beyond its justifications and is prone to criticise.
The
Englishman waxes a trifle caustic on the subject of "pigging it";
and the American indulges in more than a bit of sarcasm on the
subject of "being led about Africa like a dog on a string."
By some such roundabout mental process as the above the American
comes to the conclusion that he need not necessarily adopt the
other fellow's method of playing this game. His own method needs
modification, but it will do. He ventures to leave out the tables
and easy chair, takes a camp stool and eats off a chop box. To
the best of his belief his health does not suffer from this. He
gets on with a camper's allowance of plate, cup and cutlery, and
so cuts out a load and a half of assorted kitchen utensils and
table ware. He even does without a tablecloth and napkins! He
discards the lime juice and siphons, and purchases a canvas
evaporation bag to cool the water. He fires one gunbearer, and
undertakes the formidable physical feat of carrying one of his
rifles himself. And, above all, he modifies that grub list. The
purchase of waterproof bags gets rid of a lot of tin: the staple
groceries do quite as well as London fancy stuff. Golden syrup
takes the place of all the miscellaneous jams, marmalades and
other sweets. The canned goods go by the board. He lays in a
stock of dried fruit. At the end, he is possessed of a grub list
but little different from that of his Rocky Mountain trips. Some
few items he has cut down; and some he has substituted; but bulk
and weight are the same. For his three months' trip he has four
or five chop boxes all told.
And then suddenly he finds that thus he has made a reduction all
along the line. Tent load, two men; grub and kitchen, five men;
personal, one man; bed, one man; miscellaneous, one or two. There
is now no need for headmen and askaris to handle this little lot.
Twenty more to carry food for the men-he is off with a quarter
of the number of his first "modest safari."
You who are sportsmen and are not going to Africa, as is the case
with most, will perhaps read this, because we are always
interested in how the other fellow does it. To the few who are
intending an exploration of the dark continent this concentration
of a year's experience may be valuable. Remember to sleep off the
ground, not to starve yourself, to protect yourself from the sun,
to let negroes do all hard work but marching and hunting. Do
these things your own way, using your common-sense on how to get
at it. You'll be all right.
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