CARRIERS AND LOADS 45 



has thus spent his money, work in order to gain 

 more. 



The curse of African Governments is the 

 inherent laziness of the negro, who will not work 

 if he can possibly avoid it. It is absolutely 

 necessary to carry out public works in new African 

 colonies : roads, bridges, railways, and buildings 

 have to be constructed; and without some system 

 of forced or induced labour, European colonization 

 in Africa would be impossible. 



In Enp'lish colonies in Africa such good wages 



o O o 



arc paid the negro that prices have risen, and the 

 native cannot buy his wife and cattle without 

 earning money. The Portuguese cannot afford 

 such wages, though they are forced to pay 

 them just now. Their normal method of making 

 natives work has been to levy a hut tax (1-i- to 2| 

 escudos a year) and have some form of forced 

 labour, every District Commandant having the 

 power to commandeer labour at least for Govern- 

 ment purposes. 



While still waiting for the carriers, a visit to 

 the Melanje branch of the Ultra Marino Bank had 

 increased my funds to 1200 escudos (60), and 

 brought me several hundred small notes of the 

 value of 20 centavos (2d.), which were necessary 

 for payment on the line of march. 



The carriers arrived in the afternoon, and, 

 though too late to march that day, the evening 

 was spent in arranging every detail of the expcdi- 

 { ion, and carrying out a rehearsal of the duties for 

 the march, so that the start next day, 7th August, 

 could be well made at an early hour, 



