524 



NATURE 



[June 30, 1910 



than when, clothed in silk hat and frock coat, he 



struts proudly to church, the observed of all observers. 



On the other hand, we find the aborigine, still the 



Fig. I. — Numori. 



Steatite figures found in caves and supposed to be of very great antiquity 

 From " A Transformed Colony." 



given. The results so far are encouraging, and such 

 a scheme appears to offer the best prospects for the 

 evolution of the negro on rational lines. 



During the last few years the 



material development of the colony 

 has been most striking. Railways 

 and roads are spreading fan-like 

 from the Port of Freetown through 

 the "bush," carrying up the pro- 

 ducts of the Manchester looms and 

 other luxuries of civilisation into 

 villages where, a few years ago, the 

 face of the white man had never 

 been seen, and bringing back in re- 

 turn a rich harvest of palm oil, palm 

 kernels, and rubber, from the 

 hitherto untapped regions of the in- 

 terior. The extent of this may be 

 realised from the fact that the ex- 

 ports have increased threefold in ten 

 years, frouu 290,99 iZ. in 1898 to 

 831,259/, in 1907, and the revenue 

 from 117,681/. to 359,104/. during 

 the same period. 



There is much else of interest to 

 which only a brief allusion can be 

 made. Mr. AUdridge draws a 

 striking picture of the condition ol 

 the Protectorate twenty years ago- 

 perpetual inter-tribal warfare, con- 

 stant slave raiding, deserted villages 

 with their fringe of skeletons 

 whitening in the sun, and depopu- 

 lated districts ; contrasting vividhi 

 with the peaceful prosperity anc 

 commercial progress which are now to be founc 

 on all sides. But the book is full of such 

 contrasts; on the one hand, the civilising in 



untutored savage, clothed in his loin cloth and little 

 else, carrying out his ancestral pursuits of agricul- 

 ture and war, but withal more likeable and trust- 

 worthy. 



The author skirts very delicately 

 the negro problem in West Africa 

 (and we should have welcomed a 

 bolder presentation of this ques- 

 tion from one of his experience), 

 but he does not faiil to point out 

 the evils of the purely clerical sys- 

 te;m of education which has been 

 largely adopted in Freetown, with 

 the result that a race of middle- 

 men traders and clerks has arisen 

 for whom it is becoming increas- 

 ingly difficult to find employment. 

 An interesting educational experi- 

 ment is, however, being carried 

 out in the Government school at 

 Bo, in the Protectorate, which is 

 of a different character, and will 

 be followed with much interest by 

 those who have the welfare of the 

 negro at heart. It is intended 

 only for the sons of chiefs, or the 

 nominees of the townspeople, the 

 object being to train the children 

 to become good rulers when they 

 grow up. There is no attempt at 

 Europeanising them ; on the con- 

 trary, it is strictly forbidden ; 

 native clothing is worn, native 

 food eaten, native customs and in- 

 stitutions, so far as they are good, 

 are encouraged, tribal patriotism 

 is strengthened, and there is no 

 interference with the religious beliefs of the pupils. | fluences of the bank, the ice factory, the railway, an 

 Education proceeds on simple lines, and practical in- the telegraph; on the other, the primitive barbarisi 

 struction in farming, carpentry, road-making, &c., is | of the bush, rudimentary arts, primeval marriag^ 



NO. 2122, VOL. 83] 



Fig. 2. — A Secret Society. 



A Poro boy in dancing costume, Gaura country, Upper Mendiland. 

 From " A Transformed Colony." 



