;62 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



One of the best-known 

 tribes of the Mandingo are the 

 Mendi, who live in the pro- 

 tectorate of Sierra Leone. 

 The inhabitants of the town 

 and actual colony of Sierra 

 Leone are, however, mainly 

 Timni or Timneh; bnt the 

 population is unusually mixed, 

 as the colony was founded in 

 1787 as a home for freed 

 slaves. The original settlers 

 belong to many different tribes, 

 and the variations in feature 

 among the present Sierra 

 Leonese are extreme. The 

 mixture of races has even 

 affected the neighbouring 

 Timni, who, according to 

 Clark, vary in colour "from 

 jet black to light yellow, the 

 intermediate shades being 

 principally a coffee or in- 

 different black colour." 



The secret societies, or 

 porro, which are widely scat- 

 tered and most typically de- 

 veloped in West Africa, though 

 they also occur in East Africa, 

 are especially powerful among 

 the Timni, and much of the 

 reliable information regarding 

 the aims and methods of these 

 societies has been obtained by 

 a study of this tribe. 



South of Sierra Leone is 

 the State of Liberia, still in- 

 dependent, although partly dismembered by France. This state was founded as an asylum for 

 the freed American slaves, but its success has not been so satisfactory as could have been 

 wished. Robinson, who visited it in 1894, declares that "the history of Liberia would indeed 

 be a most entertaining farce, were it not also a most significant tragedy." He remarks that 

 "the Liberians excel perhaps all the other inhabitants of the globe in their amazing self- 

 conceit," and tells us that their rulers had recently assured the French that they had decided 

 to remain neutral in the next European war. The main function of Liberia has been indeed 

 to supply good stories of Negro methods of administration, as when during the cholera scare 

 in Egypt they placed a ship in quarantine because it was going to an infected port. 



The most important element in the native Liberian population is the Kru or Grebo, 

 who live along the Grain Coast, north-west of Cape Las Palmas. The name Kru is an 

 abridgment of Kru-boy, which is a corruption, not of "cresv-boy," but of the proper native name 

 of Grebo. The Kru are among the most vigorous of Negro races, and they act as boatmen 

 and cargo-lifters all along the west coast, and are commercially invaluable. Thomson gave 

 them a bad name, but some later travellers and west-coast residents are loud in their praise. 



J'/toio by Jlf. 



NATIVE CARRIERS, UPPER MENDI. 



