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.