2 
interior, the country is healthy and. very habitable for 
Europeans; and in proof of this he referred to the English 
colony at the Cape of Good Hope, at the southern extremity 
of the continent; to Algeria, at the northern extremity; and to 
all the countries in the centre which are situated at a distance 
from the great lakes and from the rivers which overflow their 
banks, that is to say, all the countries which are at a sufficient 
elevation above the level of the sea, and remote from the 
miasma produced by stagnant water. 
With regard to races, M. Gerard has found that there 
exist various peoples who are both morally and physically 
degraded ; but he has also found that Africa contains 
populations which are deserving of interest, and which are 
susceptible of progress and civilisation. With regard to the 
former, he expressed his regret at the utter neglect with 
which they are treated, inasmuch as the more weak and 
ignorant a being is, the greater is its claim on the indulgence 
and support of the strong ; and he called the attention of 
the Society to the people of Dahomey, stating that their 
barbarous customs have not originated with themselves, but 
from the sovereign and his favorites. As a proof of this 
assertion M. Gerard said that the victims in their human 
sacrifices are sometimes prisoners of war, but more frequently 
men, women, and children belonging to the nation of 
Dahomey. It is iucredible that it can be agreeable or even 
indifferent to the people of Dahomey to sacrifice their families 
to the pleasure of the king. M. Gerard is of opinion that 
the people endure this calamity because imposed on them by 
despotic violence ; but that, however brutalised, they would 
bless the hands that would bring them deliverance. As a 
means of promoting a result so desirable in the interests of 
humanity, M. Gerard proposes to arm the peoples who dwell 
on the northern borders of the country of Dahomey. They 
are the natural enemies of the abominable government of 
Dahomey for many reasons, of which the principal are that 
