The relations subsisting between the European
and the negro are, therefore, of an eminently
satisfactory character, and the most unmistakable
proofs of this are the aptitude the latter displays
in the field of labour, and his willingness to work
in the service of the white. I do not think the
Bantu of this part of the great continent will for
many generations prove suitable for other purposes
than these, nor, as I have frequently asserted, is it
necessary that he should. He has such an important
part to play in the development of the country
that, truth to tell, he could not be spared to fill


310 ANTHROPOLOGY


any other position even did his intelligence show
any immediate signs of quickening. We have,
therefore, an immense amount of material to assist
us in the essential task of opening up the country,
and fortunately both for Zambezia and for the
negro, nobody has as yet attempted all untimely to
ruin his utility by over-instructing him in branches
of learning which he does not require, which impair
his usefulness as an essential instrument, and for
which his brain is not yet ready. I am aware that
these remarks are destined to provoke hostile com-
ment from many who will read them; but I feel,
and feel most deeply, that those who will so regard
them are persons by whom the needs of Africa are
but poorly if at all understood. By “instruction”
I mean, naturally, missionary instruction, and
although there are few who have passed so many
years as I have in East and Central Africa who
have profounder appreciation for the character of
the missionary, but few there are, perhaps, who
lament more than I the often unfortunate mis-
direction of missionary effort. There is, we all
know, no more important or more self-sacrificing
task than the teaching of those who are uninstructed,
but in selecting the appropriate form of mental
nourishment for the African’s pressing needs, you
naturally have regard first of all to that most suited
to his powers of assimilation. 