When half a dozen or a dozen men are chained in a row, and have to work, rest, eat, and sleep without being ever free of the chain for weeks and sometimes months together, their health naturally gives way. Commandant Dhanis was so convinced of the harm done by this treatment, which often incapacitated a man from work for months afterwards, that he practically abolished the chain in his district. During my stay at the Pool I managed to keep in health, partly through taking plenty of exercise, and also by contriving to get a pigeon or two, or some other kind of game, almost every day.

Continuous living on tinned food seemed to damage everybody's physique, and a little fresh food daily has an extraordinary effect on a white man's health and strength in this climate. The question, too, of suitable clothing should, I am