“The negro is very rarely knowingly indecent or addicted to lubricity,” says Sir H.H.  Johnston.  “In this land of nudity, which I have known for seven years, I do not remember once having seen an indecent gesture on the part of either man or woman, and only very rarely (and that not among unspoiled savages) in the case of that most shameless member of the community—­the little boy.”  He adds that the native dances are only an apparent exception, being serious in character, though indecent to our eyes, almost constituting a religious ceremony.  The only really indecent dance indigenous to Central Africa “is one which originally represented the act of coition, but it is so altered to a stereotyped formula that its exact purport is not obvious until explained somewhat shyly by the natives....  It may safely be asserted that the negro race in Central Africa is much more truly modest, is much more free from real vice, than are most European nations.  Neither boys nor girls wear clothing (unless they are the children of chiefs) until nearing the age of puberty.  Among the Wankonda, practically no covering is worn by the men except a ring of brass wire around the stomach.  The Wankonda women are likewise almost entirely naked, but generally cover the pudenda with a tiny bead-work apron, often a piece of very beautiful workmanship, and exactly resembling the same article worn by Kaffir women.  A like degree of nudity prevails among many of the Awemba, among the A-lungu, the Batumbuka, and the Angoni.  Most of the Angoni men, however, adopt the Zulu fashion of covering the glans penis with a small wooden case or the outer shell of a fruit.  The Wa-Yao have a strong sense of decency in matters of this kind, which is the more curious since they are more given to obscenity in their rites, ceremonies, and dances than any other tribe.  Not only is it extremely rare to see any Yao uncovered, but both men and women have the strongest dislike to exposing their persons even to the inspection of a doctor.  The Atonga and many of the A-nyanga people, and all the tribes west of Nyassa (with the exception possibly of the A-lunda) have not the Yao regard for decency, and, although they can seldom or ever be accused of a deliberate intention to expose themselves, the men are relatively indifferent as to whether their nakedness is or is not concealed, though the women are modest and careful in this respect.” (H.H.  Johnston, British Central Africa, 1897, pp. 408-419.)

In Azimba land, Central Africa, H. Crawford Angus, who has spent many years in this part of Africa, writes:  “It has been my experience that the more naked the people, and the more to us obscene and shameless their manners and customs, the more moral and strict they are in the matter of sexual intercourse.”  He proceeds to give a description of the chensamwali, or