taking his own designs, and those who would consult their own requirements must needs deal elsewhere. Hence, if you are bound to “the Cape” you will be wise to defer providing yourself with a hat till you land, for the English outfitter’s muslin-bedecked helmet is a natural object of derision to those who know what is really wanted, and no extra protection is wanted under the double awning of the big liner that takes you out to your new home. The true Boer hat has an ample crown, a very broad brim, and is not looped up at one side, as anyone but a fool can see that to do so is to make the hat suitable only for a one-sided world, in which the inhabitants never require to deviate from a course carefully laid so that the sun is always kept on the “brimmery” side of the hat. The Mexican “sombrero,” worn everywhere in sub-tropical America, is practically identical, and the hat worn by the American “rough riders,” though not quite so absurd as those of our Yeomen, is another good example of the mischievous effects of the childish military craving for “smartness.” In India and elsewhere in the Tropics, a broad-leafed felt of this sort is very useful and comfortable for wear in the early morning and evening, but is quite inadequate for use in the middle of the day during the hot weather, though at other seasons a less cumbrous head covering than the big felt hat may be safely adopted; but, however cool the air, it is at no season safe to go abroad in India in the ordinary small hat of Europe. Children are strongly influenced by the sun in two ways: they are in the first place enormously benefited by getting plenty of his health-giving light; in the second their little skulls appear to be remarkably easily penetrated by the _y_ or _z_ rays that cause sunstroke. Hence, even in the hottest weather, it is a mistake to shut them up in the darkened rooms so dear to their mother’s hearts. It is as well, of course, to keep children out of the direct rays of the sun during the day, more especially as it is difficult to ensure that they will always keep their hats on; but it is a mistake to curtail their morning and evening walks on account of the sun being above the horizon, though it must be admitted that the greatest vigilance is required to insure their keeping their hats on their heads.