existence. His pleasures are to saunter about visiting friends; to grin
and guffaw; to snuff, chew, and smoke, and at times to drink
_kerring-kerry_ (_caña_ or _caxaça_), poisonous rum at a shilling a
bottle. Such is the life of ignoble idleness to which, by not enforcing
industry, we have condemned these sable tickets-of-leave.

Before quitting the African coast I diffidently suggested certain steps
towards regenerating our unhappy colony. For the encouragement of
agriculture I proposed a tax upon small shopkeepers and hucksters, who, by
virtue of sitting behind a few strings of beads or yards of calico, call
themselves traders and merchants. This measure, by-the-by, was attempted
in 1879 by Governor Rowe, but the strong opposition compelled him to
withdraw it. I would have imposed a heavy tax upon all grog-shop licenses,
and would have allowed very few retail-shops in the colony.
Police-magistrates appeared to me perfectly capable of settling disputes
and of punishing offenders. I would have discouraged the litigation which
the presence of lawyers and a bench suggests, and which causes such
heartburn between Europeans and Africans. I would have established a Court
of Summary Jurisdiction, and never have allowed a black jury to 'sit upon'
a white man, or _vice versâ_; and in the case of a really deserving negro
or mulatto I would rather see him appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland
than Governor or Secretary of Sá Leone.

On my last journey I met the Hon. Mr. T. Risely Griffith, a West Indian
and Colonial Secretary at Sá Leone. He kindly read what I had written
about the white man's Grave, and found it somewhat harsh and bitter. At
the same time he gave me, with leave to use, his valuable lecture
delivered before the Royal Colonial Institute. [Footnote: _The Colonies
and India_, a weekly newspaper. London: December 17, 1881.] Making
allowance for the official _couleur de rose_, and reading between the