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.