“Ladies on reading this will open their eyes, and suppose that either I have very bad taste, or that I am writing fiction.  But I can assure them that among the Angolas, and the Mpongwe, and the Mandingoes, and the Fula, I have seen men whose form and features would disgrace no petticoats,—­not even satin ones at a drawing-room.

“While the women are stupid, sulky, and phlegmatic, the men are vivacious, timid, inquisitive, and garrulous beyond belief.  They make excellent domestic servants, are cleanly, and even tedious in the nicety with which they arrange dishes on a table or clothes on a bed.  They have also their friendships after the manner of woman, embracing one another, sleeping on the same mat, telling one another their secrets, betraying them, and getting terribly jealous of one another (from pecuniary motives) when they happen to serve the same master.

“They have none of that austerity, that reserve, that pertinacity, that perseverance, that strong-headed stubborn determination, or that ferocious courage, which are the common attributes of our sex.  They have, on the other hand, that delicate tact, that intuition, that nervous imagination, that quick perception of character, which have become the proverbial characteristics of cultivated women.  They know how to render themselves impenetrable; and if they desire to be perfidious, they wear a mask which few eyes can see through, while at the same time a certain sameness of purpose models their character in similar moulds.  Their nature is an enigma:  but solve it, and you have solved the race.  They are inordinately vain:  they buy looking-glasses; they will pass hours at their toilet, in which their wives must act as femmes de chambre; they will spend all their money on ornaments and dress, in which they can display a charming taste.  They are fond of music, of dancing, and are not insensible to the beauties of nature.  They are indolent, and have little ambition except to be admired and well spoken of.  They are so sensitive that a harsh word will rankle in then hearts, and make them unhappy for a length of time; and they will strip themselves to pay the grills for their flattery, and to escape their satire.  Though naturally timid, and loath to shed blood, they witness without horror the most revolting spectacles which their religion sanctions; and, though awed by us their superiors, a real injury will transform their natures, and they will take a speedy and merciless revenge.

“According to popular belief, the Africans are treacherous and hostile.  The fact is, that all Africans are supposed to be Negroes, and that which is criminal is ever associated with that which is hideous.  But, with the exception of some Mohammedan tribes toward the north, one may travel all over Africa without risking one’s life.  They may detain you, they may rob you, if you are rich; they may insult you, and refuse to let you enter their country,