274 INDIFFERENCE OF THE CORANNAS. [1850. 
and part of the people had left them, they knew 
not why, and were gone up to the Malalareen 
river; having therefore none to direct or give 
them orders, they supposed they must soon 
follow him to the Malalareen. Immediately as 
the man who spoke for the others said this, he 
asked me to give him a handkerchief ; and the 
whole party appeared as indilferent about the in- 
formation I brought them, as if it had not excited 
one thought. 
No nation in Africa has been found by the 
Missionaries more indifferent to all kinds of in- 
formation than the Corannas. If a Missionary 
visits a kraal they will attend to his address; — 
if he chooses he may remain ; if he goes away 
they manifest no wish to detain him. They are 
equally indifferent to his coming, remaining, or 
departing ; they feel indisposed to any effort of 
mind or body. Mr. Sass,^ who knew the Coran- 
nas well, from a residence amongst them, gave 
me a striking illustration of the contracted state 
of their mental powers. " Suppose," said he, 
" that you ask a Coranna man how many chil- 
dren he has ? He muses for a while, looking 
tOAvards the ground ; then raising his hand he 
appears to be engaged in calculating with his 
fingers. Yet after all this he requests others to 
assist him in solving the difficulty. After farther 
calculation again upon his fingers, he will look 
