vi PREFACE 



articles lately published in ' The Times,' ^ the anxious 

 and responsible work discharged by the Government 

 oflScials in the Nigerias, and also the privations and 

 dangers under which it is carried on, for what seems 

 an inadequate guerdon. 



As it was one of the things that struck me most 

 in the course of our travels, perhaps I too may be 

 permitted to add a comment on the extraordinary 

 good fortune of our country in securing the services 

 of so many able men, who deliberately risk their lives 

 and health in the administration of West Africa. 



I am advised that it may be of interest to some of 

 my readers to know that a selection of those curios 

 collected on our journey, and mentioned in this book, 

 have been presented to the British Museum, where 

 they are on exhibition in the Ethnographical Depart- 

 ment. In this connection I should like to add an 

 expression of particular thanks to Mr T. A. Joyce, 

 who has given me most generous help ; as also to 

 every official of the British Museum with whom I have 

 come in contact. 



1 Republished in ' Nigeria : its Peoples and its Problems.' 



