Natives Make Good Soldiers. 229 



I think one of the best points about the natives is their 

 love for their children, and nothing interests them more 

 than handling and fondling them. They do not kiss them, 

 but they play with them and amuse them. On the other 

 hand the wives are simply domestic drudges, and certain 

 bad-tempered men are constantly thrashing them. When 

 a man possesses a plurality of wives, there are naturally 

 many squabbles caused by jealousy, and the women of 

 Africa are just as prone to suffer from this complaint as 

 are those of more civilised races of mankind. 



The Central African natives make good soldiers and 

 police, as they seem to like military drills and duties. 

 That fine body of men, the King's African Rifles, has 

 battalions raised in different protectorates, and I think 

 those recruited in Nyasaland take a leading place for 

 intelligence and smartness. In various African campaigns 

 these men have proved staunch and reliable, and they are 

 wonderfully quick in learning their duties. While residing 

 in Zomba, in 1903, an officer taught several men signalling, 

 and before they were able to take down messages they had 

 to be taught the alphabet. A number of them were 

 proficient in three months, and I think this is a wonderful 

 example of intelligence, as these were grown men of from 

 eighteen to twenty-five years of age, and not youths, who 

 are usually more easily taught. 



Again, the King's African Rifles' band in Zomba was 

 taught by an Indian bandmaster to play all kinds of tunes, 

 and certain of the officers, who took an interest in the 

 matter, introduced new tunes, which the natives would 

 master in less than a week, and play almost as well as 

 some regimental bands at home. 



Natives naturally have a liking for music, and when their 

 interest is aroused they take great pains over learning 

 anything ; and this shows that they have intellect, if it is 

 only awakened and led into interesting channels. 



One of the worst features of the natives is that they are 

 brutally cruel, as they have little sympathy for others or 

 for animal life. A boy will take a blunt knife to cut an 



