a loop, in which dangled my powerful loading-rod, formed of a solid piece of horn of the rhinoceros.  The larger girdle was my shooting-belt; this was a broad leather belt, on which were fastened four separate compartments, made of otterskin, with flaps to button over, of the same material.  The first of these held my percussion-caps; the second, a large powder-flask; the third and fourth, which had divisions in them, contained balls and patches, two sharp clasp-knives, a compass, flint and steel.  In this belt I also carried a loading-mallet, formed from the horn of the rhinoceros; this and the powder-flask were each secured to the belt by long rheimpys, to prevent my losing them.  Last, but not least, in my right hand I usually carried my double-barrelled two-grooved rifle, which was my favourite weapon.  This, however, I subsequently made up my mind was not the tool for a mounted man, especially when quick loading is required.”

Wet Clothes, to dry.—­Fire for drying Clothes.—­To dry clothes it is a very convenient plan to make a dome-shaped framework of twigs over a smouldering fire; by bending each twig or wand into a half-circle, and planting both ends of it in the ground, one on each side of the fire.  The wet clothes are laid on this framework, and receive the full benefit of the heat.  Their steam passes readily upwards.

[Two sketches of drying frame].

To keep Clothes from the wet.—­Mr. Parkyns says, “I may as well tell, also, how we managed to keep our clothes dry when travelling in the rain:  this was rather an important consideration, seeing that each man’s wardrobe consisted of what he carried on his back.  Our method was at once effective and simple:  if halting, we took off our clothes and sat on them; if riding, they were placed under the leathern shabraque of the mule’s saddle, or under any article of similar material, bed or bag, that lay on the camel’s pack.  A good shower-bath did none of us any harm; and as soon as the rain was over, and the moisture on our skins had evaporated, we had our garments as warm, dry, and comfortable as if they had been before a fire.  In populous districts, we kept on our drawers, or supplied their place with a piece of rag, or a skin; and then, when the rain was over, we wrapped ourselves up in our ‘quarry,’ and taking off the wetted articles, hung them over the animal’s cruppers to dry.”  Another traveller writes:—­

“The only means we had of preserving our sole suit of clothes dry from the drenching showers of rain, was by taking them off and stuffing them into the hollow of a tree, which in the darkness of the night we could do with propriety.”

Mr. Palliser’s boatmen at Chagre took each a small piece of cloth, under which they laid their clothes every time that they stripped in expectation of a coming storm.