328 THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



what may betide him ; yet so greedy of gain is he that 

 he will refuse information about a country or the direc- 

 tion of a path without a present of beads. He also in* 

 variably demands prepayment : no one keeps a promise 

 or adheres to an agreement, and, if credit be demanded 

 for an hour, his answer would be, " There is nothing in 

 my hand." Yet even greed of gain cannot overcome 

 the levity and laxity of his mind. Despite his best in- 

 terests, he will indulge the mania for desertion caused 

 by that mischievous love of change and whimsical desire 

 for novelty that characterise the European sailor. Nor 

 can even lucre prevail against the ingrained indolence 

 of the race — an indolence the more hopeless as it is the 

 growth of the climate. In these temperate and abun- 

 dant lands Nature has cursed mankind with the abun- 

 dance of her gifts ; his wants still await creation, and 

 he is contented with such necessaries as roots and herbs, 

 game, and a few handfuls of grain — consequently im- 

 provement has no hold upon him. 



In this stage of society truth is no virtue. The 

 "mixture of a lie" may "add to pleasure" amongst 

 Europeans ;• in Africa it enters where neither pleasure 

 nor profit can arise from the deception. If a Mnyam- 

 wezi guide informs the traveller that the stage is short, 

 he may make up his mind for a long and weary march, 

 and vice versa. Of course, falsehood is used as a de- 

 fence by the weak and oppressed ; but beyond that, the 

 African desires to be lied to, and one of his proverbs is, 

 " 'Tis better to be deceived than to be undeceived." 

 The European thus qualifies the assertion, 



" For sure the pleasure is as great 

 In being cheated as to cheat." 



Like the generality of barbarous races, the East 



