18 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



April 10, 1922 



A LOGGING CREW OF WANGARIAS FROM THE DESERT TRIBES, ALL MOHAMMEDANS 



man of the gang usually speaks for all. The days of waiting for a 

 steamer at the point of departure and the two days of practical 

 fasting en route, result in a very lank and hungry looking company 

 and the change in their appearance after a week or two with the 

 new Massa is remarkable. The Kru-men or, as they are called, 

 Kru-boys, and this regardless of age, are either beach men or bush 

 men, the former best for boatmen or stevedoring and stowing car- 

 goes; the latter are from the interior and best adapted to the work 

 of logging. 



After the crew has ".signed on," as it is called, the requisite 

 number of cooking 

 pots and a large ba- 

 sin to each ten men 

 are furnished them, 

 a generous ration 

 of rice being issuiil 

 to the cook of each 

 division; and it 

 often happens tlwit 

 the ni a n a g e r ' » 

 sense of humanity 

 prompts an issue of 

 rice as the first step 

 in the proceedings. 



The Gold Coast 

 native is invariably 

 known by the name 

 which stands for 

 the day of the week 

 on which he was 

 born. The year and 

 the month are not 

 taken into account 

 and the age of a 

 dusky belle is un- 

 certain. There are 

 other parts of lA- 

 beria from which 

 laborers are 



By courtesy of the .\nu'ricaii Forostn Maeaxlii* \'> i i n, t 



WAITING FOR A HEAVY RAIN TO CARRY THK LOGS DOWN STREAM 

 The watpr in the stnaJler streams frequently rises in a few hours from a mere trickle to a raging torrent 



and as quickly subsides 



brought; and as the different districts are often either at open 

 war, or are nursing old animosities handed down from one century 

 to the next, the distribution of newcomers at the camps calls for 

 experience fortified by tactful patience and unlimited authority. 

 At best all are clannish. The men from one neighborhood will not 

 mix in the living arrangements of other Liberians from another 

 district. They say, "Massa, they be no from my country." If 

 from the same village — "Massa, they be my brothers." To these 

 men "my country" means my native village; "my brother," any 

 man from the same place; and indeed, the men from one neigh- 

 borhood bear such 

 close family resem- 

 blance that without 

 further inquiry one 

 would believe them 

 to be really brothers 

 as claimed. When 

 asked if they have 

 tlie same father or 

 mother, it is found 

 that, so far as 

 known by them, 

 there is no close 

 kin.ship. When it so 

 liappens that two 

 men are born of the 

 same mother, they 

 stick still more 

 closely together; 

 and, if, peradven- 

 ture, the same 

 mother and father 

 are held responsible 

 for both, their pride 

 of ancestry is great 

 indeed. 



These untaught 

 ;ind entirely un- 

 civilized so-called 



