Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV. Military Life. No one is ignorant that in the Tropics the days and nights are of practically equal length. The first hours of the day are undoubtedly the most healthful, and if it is not a good thing, especially in a paludal country, to get up before sunrise, it is not bad to rise with the sun. From six to ten o'clock in the morning is the first working period of colonial life; the second extends from three to seven in the afternoon. One does not go out at all from noon to four o'clock, and during this time affairs are practically suspended. There is a reason for these habits in the colonies. It is dangerous to be exposed to the sun at the zenith, and the European soldier, more sensitive than the native, should be warned against the dangers he may be made to run by a hygienic error. The military authority, always vigilant, will be able to protect him by establishing a list of service, which alternates work and rest and takes into account the exigencies of climate. § I. Occupations of the Soldier. In the colonies, drills are necessary to occupy the men, to prevent them from losing the profit of the military instruction received in France, and to prepare them for the eventualities of an expedition; they are also beneficial to health and are a precious antidote to ennui. They should invariably fulfill a double condition: 1. Take place at selected hours. 2. Be of short duration. The hour naturally indicated is the morning hour following rising. It is usually preferred, as being the mostagreeable and the one in which the man is in best condition and best capable of effort. With reveille, about five o'clock, according to place and season, the man goes to drill, either every day, or two or three times a week, from six to seven o'clock. The drill las...