Travels in West Africa

is not even yet half-filled, a great deal of very curious information has taken its place. I use the word "curious" intentionally, because I think many people interpreted my request for practical tips and advice as an advertisement saying, "Trash may be dumped here." This information is still in a state of great confusion, despite my heroic efforts to organize it. I find, however, that almost all of it can be categorized under the following headings, specifically:

The dangers of West Africa.
The unpleasantries of West Africa.
The diseases of West Africa.
The things you must take to West Africa.
The things you find most useful in West Africa.
The worst possible things you can do in West Africa.

To begin, I asked all my friends what they knew about West Africa. The majority knew nothing. A certain percentage said, "Oh, you can't possibly go there; that's where Sierra Leone is—the white man's grave, you know." If I pressed them further, I occasionally found that they had relatives who had gone there after being "difficult cases" Euphemism for people who were family embarrassments or failures. in the family; however, since they had left not only West Africa but this world, they were now forgiven and forgotten. One lady, however, kindly remembered the case of a gentleman who had lived for a few years at Fernando Po Now known as Bioko, an island in Equatorial Guinea.. But when he returned as an elderly wreck at forty, he shook so violently with ague ague A fever (often malaria) marked by regular fits of shivering and sweating. that he dislodged a chandelier, thereby destroying a valuable tea service and flattening the silver teapot in the middle of it.

No, there was no doubt about it: the place was not healthy. And although I had not been a "difficult case," neither had the chandelier-shaking gentleman from Fernando Po. So, I next turned my attention to questioning the doctors. "The deadliest spot on earth," they said cheerfully, and showed me maps detailing the geographical distribution of diseases. Now, I am not saying that a country looks inviting when it is colored in Scheele's green A vibrant but highly toxic arsenic-based pigment used in the 19th century. or a bilious yellow, but