A PLEA FOR THE NATIVE 385 



native's hopelessness, his incapacity or unwillingness to 

 undertake and carry through any hard work. On every 

 hand this is the common accusation brought against all 

 natives alike, brought by those who have had little oppor- 

 tunity to study their present condition or have taken any 

 thought of their past unfavourable environment. The 

 charge in many instances is entirely and in many more par- 

 tially untrue. 



Give the East African the work that he is fitted for, be 

 patient with him, be just and at the same time be firm, 

 and he can do and often has done, extraordinarily good 

 work. On the other hand, put him to a work that his 

 ancestry has for ages unfitted him for, put the Massai cattle- 

 herder (if you can catch him!) to hoeing the veldt, or the 

 corn-raising Kikuyu to heavy lumbering or raising rail- 

 road embankments, and the result will be unsatisfactory 

 in the extreme. Put him under the control of men who 

 cannot speak his language, who take no trouble to under- 

 stand him, who have little patience, and he will most likely 

 cause no end of trouble and annoyance. East Africa is, 

 from the white man's point of view, a land of hurry. He 

 rushes out to it, he entertains all sorts of unreasonable 

 expectations regarding it. It is a "get rich quick" land 

 for him. Laws, regulations, natives, beasts all, exist 

 only for his pleasure and profit. He would gladly, were 

 he allowed to do so, exploit them all for his own purpose, 

 and go home as soon as he was assured of a competence. 

 In this spirit he is prepared to deal with the native and, 

 after his own ideas, be fair and just to him. But still, to 

 hold him as nothing more than a necessary pawn in the 

 winning of his adventurous game, as something to serve his 

 needs, to supply him with the labour he must have, the 

 unfortunate native must cease to be a nomad and must 

 be at his beck and call, to do the work he requires for such 

 wages as he can afford to pay. 



