lines, I found that he had stated, in parliamentary language, what had
been told by me in the rude tongue of a traveller. The essay, he assured
me, had been well received at Sá Leone; and yet, to my knowledge, the
newspapers of the western coast had proposed to make it the subject of an
'indignation-meeting.'

Hear what Mr. Griffith has to say upon the crucial question--agriculture.
'The ordinary observer cannot fail to be impressed with the great number
of traders and hawkers. In the peninsula of Sierra Leone there are
returned 53,862; of these, traders and hawkers number 10,250, or about 19
per cent., or, including hucksters, 23 per cent. Little good can result to
a country as long as one-fourth of its people are dependent for their
livelihood for what they sell to the remaining three-quarters.... The same
tendency to engage in the work of distribution rather than the production
of wealth seems to be a general characteristic of the negro race.

'The real number of artisans or mechanics who have any right to the term
is very limited; and it is to be regretted that in Sierra Leone, where the
people are apt to learn, and tolerably quick to apply, there is not a
greater number of thorough workmen to teach their handicrafts and make
them examples for the rising generation. A youth who has been two years
with a carpenter, boat-builder, blacksmith, or mason, arrogates the name
to himself without compunction, and frequently, whilst he is learning from
an indifferent teacher the rudiments of his trade, he sets up as a master.
There is hardly a single trade that can turn out half a dozen men who
would be certificated by any European firm for possessing a thorough
knowledge of it. Of all trades in Sierra Leone, and certainly in Freetown,
that of tailoring is the most patronised, but this arises from the love of
dress, which is inherent.