THE PAST AND THE FUTURE. 
2 11 
gence on the east coast one day, I asked him to 
give me one real proof of the progress of this 
country, and his reply was as prompt as it was 
conclusive. Fifty years ago, he said, it was the 
custom for every person to travel armed through 
the woods, and never to go forth without spear 
and shield, even the women carrying a wea¬ 
pon with them if only going to draw water or 
husk the rice. At nightfall the oxen were 
brought in from the fields, and carefully folded 
beneath the houses of the owners, and the village 
gates closed and carefully guarded. Now, he 
says, the carrying of weapons is exceptional, and 
confined to the guards of baggage, or special 
messengers of Government; whilst the cattle are 
allowed to roam the forests and fields, and are 
only called in once or twice a-year for marking, 
or for selection for the markets. This is evi¬ 
dence of the highest kind, and testifies in the 
directest way to the security, improved morality 
and honesty, and the greater strength of right 
principles in a country which a century ago was 
regarded as “ barbarous/' and which was spoken 
of a few months ago by a flippant official of a 
great foreign Power as “ a nation altogether un¬ 
civilised." 
The prospects for the future are most cheering 
and full of hope. Judging by the past, “the 
Great Britain of Africa ” must continue to go 
