348 ETHNOLOGY 



possesses powers of ingenious lying which I am 

 convinced few races can lay claim to in equal 

 degree. He is further intensely dishonest, and, in 

 all his thievish operations, greatly assisted by his 

 phenomenal capacity for juggling with the truth. 

 I have heard it said that the African native can 

 blush, but, for my own part, I have never seen him 

 do so, nor so much as move a muscle even when 

 unmasked in the perpetration of the most aban- 

 doned lie. He simply stands before you silent, 

 with an expression of slightly bored martyrdom 

 which says plainly, " Dear me, what an ass this 

 white man is to make such a fuss about nothing." 

 I am persuaded that, however perfect the African 

 character may ultimately become, after centuries 

 of European tuition and training, the two weak- 

 nesses which will take longer to eradicate than any 

 others are those to which this paragraph has been 

 devoted. 



I suppose any act committed in defiance and 

 disregard of the laws of property is one of the 

 most serious crimes a native can commit among 

 his own people ; but I am perfectly satisfied that 

 theft from a European, be he the delinquent's 

 master or employer or not, is not looked upon 

 either by the offender or those of his colour who 

 may be privy to it as in any sense so serious. No 

 inducement will ever suffice to procure the evidence 

 of one servant or employe against another in these 

 circumstances, a fact which greatly increases the 

 difficulty of detecting transgression. 



Drunkenness is not regarded as a matter of any 

 gravity, but rather as a mere venial weakness, and, 



