Some readers may object to Haggard's depiction of Africans in She. With two notable exceptions, Billali and Ustane, members of the Amahagger tribe are evil and cruel. Thus they are stereotypically presented as "dark" and "swarthy" villains in a story where "goodness" seems heavily associated with the white heroes. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the genre in which Haggard was working and the story's setting demanded such convention. Furthermore, it should be emphasized that Haggard's personal experience with actual Africans and their country had given him a deep and abiding respect for their humanity and their cultures. Horace Holly's respect for the Amahagger marriage customs reflects Haggard's own conviction that people of all races were part of a common humanity. Having lived in an imperialistic society, Haggard was remarkably free of the ethnocentrism characteristic of his contemporaries. Later in life he actively campaigned for the...