With the traders it has been different. Some have dealt
honestly--and more, it is to be feared, dishonestly--not only with those
with whom they have had dealings, but with their fellow-subjects and
their Government. It is these men chiefly who have, in defiance of the
law, supplied the natives with those two great modern elements of danger
and destruction, the gin-bottle and the rifle. The first is as yet
injurious only to the recipients, but it will surely react on those who
have taught them its use; the danger of possessing the rifle may come
home to us any day and at any moment.
Civilisation, it would seem, when applied to black races, produces
effects diametrically opposite to those we are accustomed to observe
in white nations: it debases before it can elevate; and as regards the
Kafirs it is doubtful, and remains to be proved, whether it has much
power to elevate them at all. Take the average Zulu warrior, and it
will be found that, in his natural state, his vices are largely
counter-balanced by his good qualities.
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