be seen. In these, people must make their homes in many ways, and
have many kinds of food and clothes. Because we live in Africa, we
want to know about Africa and the people in it. They are men and
women and children like ourselves, though the colour of their skins
may be lighter or darker than ours, and their languages quite
different. But they, too, build houses and eat food and wear some
kind of dress, and it is interesting to know about their customs. So
in this book we shall read about some of them and of how they live;
and, to help us to understand, we shall find with each part a picture
of the people we are reading about. All the time we must remember
that we could get to see them for ourselves if we were strong enough
to walk so far, because they are all our own brothers and sisters in
Africa.

Long ago most African peoples were shut off from the other people of
the world by the sea and the great sandy desert. Only the people of
Egypt could meet and learn from the people of Europe and Asia. So
while the Egyptians grew wise and clever, all the other Africans,
south of the desert, knew nothing except what they had learnt by
themselves. Then Arabs began to cross the desert to get gold and
slaves from the dark-skinned Africans. These Arabs taught them a
little. But, later still, Europeans began to come in great ships over
the sea. These came at first like the Arabs to trade, and afterwards
began to plant great fields of cotton and tobacco, which will not grow
in their own lands. But they found the dark-skinned Africans were
still ignorant, and afraid of people of other races. They were always
fighting among themselves, and no one could settle among them until
there was peace and safety. At last the European nations made
agreements with the chiefs, so that now in nearly every part of Africa
there is a European governor to prevent wars and fighting. Thus in