56 REPORT OF THE HARVARD AFRICAN EXPEDITION 
gratiating, one does not gain the impression from being among them that they 
are always trustworthy. They are quick to take advantage of their intelligence, 
both in trading and in their other dealings with the members of different tribes. 
A number of them have small groups of slaves which they sometimes employ 
either as farm laborers, or as porters in carrying about their produce. It has 
been predicted that they will make their influence greatly felt in the destinies of 
Liberia. The writer, however, believes that as the country becomes more civilized, 
their influence will decline. 
Another tribe, the Vais, for the most part reside in western Liberia in the 
coastal regions between the rivers Mano and St. Paul. When the Portuguese 
first reached Liberia in the fifteenth century they seem to have found the Vai 
people already established about Cape Mount. In former times this tribe carried 
on an extensive trade in slaves. The relationship between the Vais and the Man- 
dingoes has already been discussed. The Vais are usually the best liked, by Euro- 
peans, of all the Liberian tribes, and are perhaps the most interesting. ‘They are 
superior intellectually, are one of the most progressive groups in the native 
population, and they have been regarded as constituting an important civilized 
and civilizing element in Liberia. The great majority of them have adopted 
Mohammedanism, and a number of their learned men can read and write 
Arabic, which they sometimes teach to the other native tribes. The Vai tribe 
is the only one in Liberia which has its own alphabet and system of writing. A 
number of them have recently become Christians. 
The color of their skin ranges from golden yellow or sometimes an almost 
olive tint, to a golden brown. The women are good-natured and picturesque at 
times, and in appearance they are perhaps the most attractive women in Africa 
(No. 36). 
The men are usually peaceful and willing. The Vais today engage in some 
farming and in trading, and build good villages. They also weave well and make 
much cotton cloth which, as a rule, they dye either blue or brown. This cloth 
constitutes an important article of native trade. They make trustworthy sery- 
ants or porters, guides, and house boys. Our head boys on the march were 
usually Vais. 
On state occasions the Vai men sometimes wear a kaftan like the Man- 
dingo. More often they wear a shirt-like garment of white calico, the tails of 
which descend to the knee, and which is buttoned over the right shoulder. 
Often the bosom of the shirt is somewhat embroidered. Beneath it may be worn 
a cotton singlet and a pair of white calico drawers or trousers. 
In their own villages the women are usually nude to the waist. A loose cloth 
of cotton or velveteen, often of bright color, is generally thrown over their shoul- 
ders. A long cotton or calico skirt secured by winding at the waist is also worn. 
As a rule the Vai women wear no covering over the feet, but they often wear 
anklets and particularly bracelets and rings. Silver ornaments and pins are 
usually worn in the hair as well as necklaces of beads. They also weave baskets 
of beads. 
The Vais, like the Mandingoes, practice circumcision, but the Vai men usu- 
