BY A. F. R. WOLLASTON
(The suggestions contained in this chapter are based on some experience of travel in the mountains of Africa and New Guinea, and it is assumed that the conditions are not materially different in the mountains of tropical South America. It is taken for granted that the transport animal is man, and that after entering the mountains the traveller must depend entirely on the provisions he carries with him. The medical suggestions are intended only for those who have no special knowledge of the subject, and for conditions in which only the simplest treatment is possible.)
Health
The first essential to the success of an expedition lies in the good health of the various members of the party. Hard work in the trying conditions of tropical mountains soon saps the energy of the most robust, but by taking proper precautions a man may continue in good health for six months or even longer.
Prevention of Sickness.
When the body is for many hours daily bathed in sweat and smeared with mud, personal cleanliness becomes of the first importance. A bath, if it can be managed, or a sponge-down, should be the rule every evening, and all cuts and scratches must be carefully attended to and protected from infection. The question of hot or cold water may be left to the preference of the individual, with this reservation, that no man should ever take a cold bath when he has cooled down after freely perspiring.
The teeth are liable in hot climates to become loose and even to fall out. They should be kept scrupulously clean, and the mouth may be washed out with a weak solution of Condy’s fluid. The hair should at all times be cropped short both for comfort and cleanliness, and paraffin or some other oil should be rubbed into the scalp.
A regular action of the bowels is even more necessary in tropical than in temperate climates. There may be some difficulty about this on a diet of tinned foods, but it can generally be ensured by a daily plate of porridge (see below, Constipation). To avoid malaria every effort must be made to escape the attacks of the anopheles mosquito. It will not be possible for the traveller to carry with him a mosquito-proof tent, but failing this, he must use a well-constructed mosquito net, made in one piece, without an opening at the side. The lower edge of the net should not hang loosely, but should be tucked under the edge of the mattress if one be used, or otherwise stretched tightly round the edge of the bed. The meshes of the muslin should not be less than twelve to the inch. It is good economy, as well as being more humane, to provide your ‘boys’ and other servants with mosquito nets. Mosquito boots, i.e. light boots with long loose uppers of canvas or thin leather, into which the trousers can be tucked, are conveniently worn in the evening to prevent mosquitoes biting the ankles. If a camp be occupied for several days, it is advisable to see that stagnant pools near by are filled up, and that no discarded tins are lying about to become filled with rain-water, in which mosquitoes may breed.
Here it may be convenient to state that very many diseases of the Tropics—cholera, dysentery, typhoid, bilharzia, etc.—are spread chiefly by means of water. It is therefore of the greatest importance to make sure of a supply of pure water. Filters will remove mud and other suspended matter from water, and a good filter in perfect condition may provide a sterile water; but it is seldom possible to keep a filter perfectly clean, and it is better to do without it altogether. If the water is stagnant, or if there is any possibility of its having been contaminated in any way, it is always advisable to boil it and make tea, or if it is preferred, to aerate it with sparklets. “When in doubt, boil,” is a golden rule.
As a medicinal prevention of malaria there is nothing more effectual than to take a daily dose of 5 grains of quinine bihydrochloride. As this is a somewhat expensive drug, the native members of the expedition, if they are numerous, may be given the less costly (but less soluble) quinine bisulphate, 5 grains. If it is not convenient to give quinine to the natives every day, it may be given to them in 10-grain doses twice a week on consecutive days. The tabloids may be sugar-coated for the natives, who may otherwise surreptitiously reject them.