Natives Comparatively Happy. 235 



It would be a wise provision to prevent them leaving the 

 country for the South African mines, where they can only 

 learn evil, and the only exception to this should be when 

 they are serving as disciplined soldiers under good officers. 



More attention should also be paid by the Government 

 to the methods of the missions, which in many cases do 

 them harm instead of good. 



They cannot look at matters from our standpoint, and 

 a native told me that in a native church in Fort Jameson 

 the missionary handed round a small basket for the collec- 

 tion, and that he (the native) thought it strange that the 

 white man should take the money of the natives for him- 

 self. I, of course, explained that it was for the upkeep of 

 the church and the payment of the native teachers ; but the 

 native would not see this, and went away unconvinced. 



As a whole, the natives live far happier lives than do the 

 poorer classes at home. They have only to scratch the 

 soil to reap abundance, and at present their wants are few 

 and easily supplied ; so why try to bring them up to our 

 level, which for them can only result in unhappiness and 

 discontent ? 



Since writing the foregoing, I met with a very interesting 

 case of perception on the part of a native, which shows 

 thought and reasoning much above the ordinary. A native 

 said to me in the native language : " God must be very 

 clever, for if I plant three grains of maize, the stalks bear 

 many cobs, which have very many grains ; and if I plant 

 one ground nut, many grow from this. God sends the 

 rain, too, to make things grow, and what would be the end 

 of people without rain, for we would all starve to death ? " 



This shows a power of thought and an admiration for 

 natural laws very much above the average intelligence of 

 the natives, who generally take things as they are, and do 

 no inquire into causes. 



