Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-04-02
NEGRO M THE RAW.
Sir Samuel Bakers 0plslsn or Wild ans
Tsms Afrleaas-Good Beading for
San D0mIBg3 AnHsxatlsslsts.
From the Pan Mali Gszstte

RAAAa ara Lg4A NN4A LAAa vi q AEalEL hA-
dressed to the Tunes of the 18th inst,
1 request the favor Of your insertion
Of a reply. In a letter Of the 22d inst,
signed "Mutabilis, Albus ct Alter"
the writer declares me to have stated
that the negro is ''tO be managed only
by force or terror" With equal JUS
tice ! might declare that because bows
are logged at EtOn, the English are
" to be managed only By force
or terror" There are times when
severe punishment is necessary,
and ia the fierce moment Of a negro
outbreak no other argument but force
will be respected. At other times.
kindness and gentle management,
combined with extreme irmness, will
have the same beneficial effect upon
the negro that such treatment pro-
duces upon the entire human race, and
generally upon the animal creation.
Your correspondent has drawn most
erroneous conclusions from my trav-
els in Africa, which lead me to sup
pose he has derived his information
from extracts, and not from a perusal
Of the book itself. He says: "They
the negroes) tended him, fed him,
nUrsed him, and 0beyed him.
He survived the ad-
venture to return and to in
form the world that those among
whom ne had dWelt were to be ruled
only by the halter and ca~t-O'-nine-
tails" 1 beg to leave the correctness
Of this statement to the readers Of the
"Albert N'yanZa" Far from being
the defenseless object that your CORE
spOndent suppOses me to have been,
the natives did not dare to attack, or
if they did they were repulsed; my
safety depended entirely upon the
military organization Of my little
party Of fourteen wellarmed men,
and the vigilance Of the sentries at
night. If your correspondent be-
l1eVeS that 1 owe my success to the
docility and hospitality Of the ne
grOes, l can only recommend him to
visit Central Africa, and to trust him
self to their gentieness. He continues:
"WOuld he nave trusted himself and
his wife as absolutely with the KUrds
Of the Persian frontier, or the Arabs
of the Syrian desert?'' etc, etc. I
have never been very particular in
my choice of native characters, and I
have bad considerable experience of
Arabs, but in trusting myself among
such tribes, / have little fear Of the
people provided 1 am not fettered in
my diplomacy by the assistance Of
English law. Every nation has its
peculiar character, customs and preju-
dice5; by adapting his conduct to the
condition Of the people instead of con-
CHnnrTnr that oil nnnlrr nmo ETrnnNan 70
Englishmen, and by simplyUphOlding
the character Of 81 Englishman by a
rigid adherence to honor and Justice, a
traveller will generally obtain an in
huence that will carry him through
the most trying path. Turning from
the letter Of your correspondent to
your article Of the 18th inst, which,
fairly questioning my opinion, forms
a strong contrast to the eloquent cOur-
tesy % of the Morning Star, I must
explain that my experience Of the ne
gro is not confined to Africa. I have
witnessed the free negro in Bourbon
and in Mauritius; both colonies are
in their condition to the small
Of Barb6dOes, where it would
be impossible for the negro to squat,
and where he must either work or
In both these colonies, though
few in number, the negro is invalua
bic; he is exactly in his right position;
he must be industrious; he has for
many years had every advantage, and
he has attained, 1 believe, the max
imum Of his capabilities, But what
is he? A light, t~hOughtless creature,
sufficient unto theday" IS his maxim;
his idea Of happiness is to ape the
man in appearance, and to dress
his wife gOrgeOusiy for q dance; often
white satin, with q French shawl
and no shoes or stockings, and to
or play the fiddle. These are
most respectable niggeTs, Just what
hey ought to be, in my opinion, hap
)y, jolly fellows, IS strong as horses,
to work, and keep re-
ipeCtaDle by the impOssibilfty
If squatting; real valuable mem
)ers Of society; but if they are
declared to be equal to the white man
because they are of the human race, !
~ the same argument the common
house cat as belonging to the same
genus (FehS) is equal to the lion.
Your Journal of the 18th instant con-
aims a long and valuable letter from
he pen Of -. o." which Is entitled
% much respect as emanating from
me of thirty years experience in the
OF Guiana; but the emphasis
nat he lays upon the expression
tiger negro throws upon me the
Of the word " tiger" as one that
have connected inseparably with a
.escripdOn of the negro character. I
sed the simile " the horse and the
iger," and / repeat it to exemplify
he difference between the negro and
he European in a time of intense hos
lie excitement or rebellion, in which
ase the negro is utterly beyond con-
rOl, and in his Jury he knows no me-
.ium, as instaBced by a former rebel
ion in Jamaica, when the negroes
acTitced with great atrOcity many
yhO we're distinguished for their hu-
toward the blacks, among
whom were friends of my own family.
J. o." in support of the capability
T the negro, mentions an instance
hat the engineer Of his steam engine
vas a black. In Mauritius they are
enerally thus employed upon the es-
ate, as, having been bred in the col
ny, and educated to trades, they are
uperiOr to the emigrant Indian COO
les as mechanics; but it must be re-
rendered that the negro thus utilized
the result Of the white mans inhu-
nee, and should this influence be
the natural i~nferiOrity Of
he negro would insure his retrOgres-
ion, and, If left to himself, he
you'd relapse into a savage state.
81. o." admits that my charge
the negro Of uncOnquerable
~ileness, and that he will not work
Mess from cOmpulsOn, sis exact"
ut on the other hand ne continues:
/ viii, however, ask what race of
men exists who would work
than the Guiana labOrer, under
be circumstances in which he is
iaced2" Without hesitation, I reply
hat all white races have an innate
esire for progress, to which the negro
)rm5 a peculiar exception; this In
OF activity produces an energy
character and industry that would
9nder inactiOn, which is the negrO's
appiness, the greatest misery and
urse to the white man. Look at the
asst when specializing upon the
Are there not, from the ex-
'eme east in China, India, Egypt.
ven to the extreme west in Mexico. ]
rand vestiges Of the past in mOnu- {
tents OF vast industry and skill? But
all that huge block of the globe, {
-frica, is there one single record of y
egrO intelligence? Is there one I
stone to prove that the negro !
as once a man of industry man I
no considered the future, and
Used a monument to attest his S
,eatness? or Is there even one 7
manuscript Of ancient days 8
move that the npgrn was q man G