[69] 



CHAPTER III. 



As we were now approaching the scene of action, I 

 thought it right to issue to the Officers and Naturalists the 

 following memorandum of regulations for our conduct 

 while in the country. 



" Although it is impossible to foresee all the circum- 

 stances which, in the progress of the expedition, ma}-^ call 

 for the exertion of the utmost prudence and presence of 

 mind in those who may have intercourse with the natives ; 

 nevertheless the following observations are offered, Avith 

 the certainty that an attention to them will be the means 

 of avoiding the ill effects, Avhich may as certainly be ex- 

 pected from a different line of conduct to that which they 

 recommend. 



" Though we are not to expect to find in the natives of 

 Africa, even in the most remote region, that state of savage 

 nature which marks the people of other newly discovered 

 countries, with whom the impulse of the moment is the 

 only principle of action, it is nevertheless highly necessary 



