Concluding Remarks. 
333 
slavery must date from the earliest ages. These 
sensible remarks conclude with advocating “ coloni¬ 
zation in the cause of civilization ; ” a process which 
at present cannot be too strongly deprecated. 
That the Nzadi is capable of supplying some¬ 
thing better than slaves may be’ shown by a list of 
what its banks produce. Merolla says in 1682 : 
“ Cotton here is to be gathered in great abundance, 
and the shrubs it grows on are so prolific, that they 
never almost leave sprouting.” Captain Tuckey 
(“ Narrative,” p. 120) declares “the only vegeta¬ 
ble production at Boma of any consequence in 
commerce is cotton, which grows wild most luxu¬ 
riantly, but the natives have ceased to gather it 
since the English have left off trading to the riven” 
I will not advocate tobacco, cotton and sugar; 
they are indigenous, it is true, but their cultiva¬ 
tion is hardly fitted to the African in Africa. Cop¬ 
per in small quantities has been brought from the 
interior, but the mineral resources of the wide inland 
regions are wholly unknown. If reports concerning 
mines on the plateau be trustworthy, there will be a 
rush of white hands, which must at once change, and 
radically change, all the conditions of the riverine 
country. Wax might be supplied in large quanti¬ 
ties ; the natives, however, have not yet learnt to 
hive their bees. Ivory was so despised by the 
slave-trade, that it was sent from the upper Congo 
to Mayumba and the other exporting harbours ; 
