been followed by stagnation and regression and there is no reason for
expecting the Natives of South Africa to furnish an exception to the
universal rule.

That the average Native is lazy no one who knows him will deny. He is
certainly no less lazy than the average European work-man who must be
compelled by economic pressure to do hard labour. The rough and menial
work of the world has always been done through some sort of compulsion,
either slavery or some kind of economic coaction, for it is not in human
nature, white or black, to work hard at uncongenial tasks unless
superior force in some shape or other supplies the driving power. The
manual workers of Europe are forced by the economic conditions under
which they live to do the heavy and rough work that has to be
done--there are very few, even among white men, who like rough work for
its own sake--and when we consider how small are the wants of the
average South African Native we are often surprised that he works as
hard as he does. The common expression "As lazy as a kaffir" is
counterbalanced by the equally common saying used about a white man who
works hard at anything "He works like a nigger," which suggests that
there is not much difference between the two races in this respect.

Nevertheless the mental attitude of the average Native undoubtedly
enables him to enjoy laziness more than the average European whose early
habits have been formed by different influences. Primitive man is a lazy
man whatever race he may belong to, and civilisation, which has often
been helped on by direct slavery, is indeed itself a system of slavery,
under which the toilers are driven to their tasks by the goad of
necessity. The fact that many Native youths frequently leave their
studies before completing the prescribed course, with the entry "Left
school tired" against their names, is often cited as showing that the