88 
or from weariness of the questioning, he will give an answer 
that he thinks will satisfy the inquirer. If time serve, these 
difficulties can easily be overcome by friendly intercourse, 
and a careful checking of answers through different indi¬ 
viduals. The information obtained will probably be more 
accurate if the examination takes place on the spot to which 
the questions relate ; and the practice of making sketches of 
obsolete objects or customs, for correction by the natives, is 
also useful. They will also be found to answer more freely 
when the interrogator places himself on the same level as 
themselves, i,e., if they sit upon the ground he should do the 
same. 
The relative importance of particular inquiries is greatly 
affected by the localities in which they are made, and some 
knowledge of the problems of ethnology should be possessed 
by the traveller, if he would make the best use of his oppor¬ 
tunities. Should he possess no such knowledge, he would do 
well to put himself in communication with the authorities of 
the British Museum, or the Museums at Oxford or Cam¬ 
bridge, or any other centre where ethnology is studied. 
What is needed in this country, with its vast colonial 
possessions, is a Bureau of Ethnology, such as has now existed 
for some time is the United States. The value of such an 
institution for our empire can scarcely be estimated. That 
its tabulated researches would be of the greatest importance 
to science will not be doubted ; but its strongest claim to 
existence as a national institution is the immense service it 
would render, first to the officers governing our distant 
possessions, and, second, to the central government at home, 
who would thus have, in the compass of a modest library, a 
synopsis of the history, manners, customs, and religious 
beliefs of the innumerable races composing the British 
Empire. In a word, we should then have at hand the means 
of understanding the motives which influence the peoples 
with whom we are constantly dealing, and thus be able to 
avoid the disagreements arising from ignorance of thei 
cherished prejudices and beliefs. 
C. H. R. 
