Un grand effort a été tenté, au cours de ces dernières années, pour adapter aussi exactement que possible les programmes scolaires des colonies françaises aux besoins et à l'esprit du milieu. Il se trouve encore, assurément, de mauvaises langues pour prétendre qu'on fait réciter aux petits noirs des leçons d'histoire qui commencent par la formule fameuse: ‘Nos ancêtres les Gaulois’; mais ce sont là des calomnies et les instructions officielles attestent amplement que notre enseignement colonial s'est résolument proposé de faire table rase des routines métropolitaines, d'étudier son champ d'action et d'y tracer des voies à sa convenance. Que l'œuvre soit imparfaite, c'est bien certain; car les gens qui ne sont pas du métier n'imaginent pas à quel point une pareille tâche est difficile; il n'en reste pas moins que I'élan est donné et que ce principe est désormais ancré dans l'esprit de tous les éducateurs coloniaux dignes de ce nom: ce qui convient aux petits européens ne convient pas nécessairement aux petits indigènes d'Afrique ou d'Asie, et il est indispensable de se demander à la fois ce qu'on doit enseigner et comment on doit l'enseigner.

The methodical investigation of African customs and institutions, which, notwithstanding tardy official recognition, has made such rapid strides within the last twenty or thirty years, brings us constantly up against phenomena which upset our most cherished theories. The best text-books have taught us that the method of making fire by the stick-and-groove method belongs to Oceania, and it is most disconcerting to come across some African tribe, like the Tophoke, right in the centre of the continent, who practise it and know no other. The features of a Bena Lulua display unabashed curvilinear scorings which by all rights ought to adorn the face of some Maori. The Boloki employ a method of casting which is, but for its crudeness and the distinction that vegetable matter is used instead of wax, based practically on the same principles as the cire perdue process of higher civilizations. How is it that the Warega disdain the timehonoured African institution of slavery in whatever form and have social grades which find their nearest counterpart among the Edo and Ibo, twelve hundred miles west? Shall we ever find explanations for these and many other ethnological problems? The greatest difficulty we have to face when investigating matters of the past in Africa is the entire absence of dates: the African has never kept an account of time, which has always been of but little value to him, and consequently the co-ordination of various events becomes extremely laborious, if not impossible.

The native problem as it exists to-day in South Africa is not a phenomenon of recent growth. The issues which confront the country are the product of many decades of inter-racial contact and adjustment, during which Europeans and Natives have exercised a steadily growing influence upon each others' lives. Under the influence of European culture many of the Natives have abandoned their original tribal customs, and their social life is being reorganized on a new basis by the adoption of European habits and ideas. On the other hand, the presence of the Natives has so profoundly affected the social and economic development of the Europeans as to have become almost an integral part of the whole structure of civilization in South Africa. It is no longer possible for the two races to develop apart from each other. The future welfare of the country now depends upon the finding of some social and political system in which both may live together in close contact, without that increasing unrest and disturbance that seems to develop as the inevitable result of the lack of stability and unity in any society.

Westafrika ist das klassische Land des Fetisches. Man will mit diesem Ausdtuck eine besonders niedrige Religionsform bezeichnen, die Verehiung eines beliebigen Gegenstandes. Wir tun damit dem Afrikaner Unrecht. Wohl verwendet er Gegenstände zu religiösen Zwecken, aber sie werden niemals beliebig gewählt, sondern nur sofern sie nach seiner Meinung Träger wertvoller Kräfte sind, Ein Stein verleiht Dauer, weil er selber unvergänglich ist. Der Zahn des Leoparden ist geschätzt, weil er Teil hat an den gefürchteten Eigenschaften dieses Tieres. Zudem wäre es falsch, von einer religiösen Verehrung dieser Gegenstände zu reden, sie sind wirksame Hilfsmittel im Kampf des Lebens, aber sie werden nicht angebetet; und sie sind keineswegs der einzige oder vorherrschende Gegenstand religiöser Betätigung, vielmehr gibt es gerade in Westafrika eine Fülle religiöser Vorstellungen, die zum erheblichen Teil sogar persönlichen Charakter tragen und als Gottheiten zu bezeichnen sind.

At first sight this sub-title may appear somewhat paradoxical, for what could be in greater contrast than the things denoted by the words ‘primitive’ and ‘European’? On the one hand, civilization with its highly developed technical methods in everything practical and theoretical, on the other, the world of simplicity in all practical activities. There—a mighty movement of expansion, irresistibly drawing into its sphere of influence all primitive life, to transform or destroy it, and in either case to make what remains of the primitive peoples and their countries do it service; here—vain resistance against the superior strength of the European, or the doubtful attempt to conform to European ideals. In the face of successful colonization by the cultured races of Europe, the last thing to be expected was any influence on Europe by the primitive peoples. Nevertheless, such an influence certainly exists, and that in the realm of art. After the period of realistic Impressionism in the last decades of the nineteenth century, a strong movement flowed through the art world of Europe, finding its most permanent expression as Futurism in Italy, Cubism in France, and Expressionism in Germany. This movement in Germany, in opposition to Realism, made it one of its principles to observe and express not the external but the interior world, while in France the desire for bold drawing of a decorative character prevailed. Both tendencies culminated in an art movement which felt for the primitive works of art a sympathy due to a sense of relationship: the Cubist appreciated their inherent architectural character, and the Expressionists the mystic emotional content.

The more the number of Africans who can read and write their mother tongue increases, and the more books, newspapers, and magazines are printed in Africa, the more pressing becomes the necessity of introducing a good, legible system of writing these languages wherever it is lacking. For this reason the Institute has begun to occupy itself with the production of such a system of orthography, and it therefore seems opportune to consider more closely the method and scope of this undertaking before making detailed proposals for a practical orthography.

At the suggestion of Professor Meinhof, to whose scholarly work on African languages we owe so much, I write a few comments on the foregoing article, which is the memorandum which he laid before the Institute when the Memorandum on A Practical Orthography of African Languages, recently published, was in course of preparation. That memorandum, Mr. Lloyd James's article in the last number of Africa, p. 125, and Professor Meinhof's article have well-nigh exhausted what there is to be said on general principles.

Les travaux d'ethnologie relatifs à l'Ouest-Africain et publiés au cours de ces dernières années peuvent se ranger, semble-t-il, en trois catégories: (a) Études d'ensemble, (b) Monographies régionales, (c) Mémoires et articles.

Il ne saurait être question, bien entendu, de les énumérer tous et de les apprécier dans un compte-rendu de quelques pages, nous nous bornerons donc à mentionner ceux d'entre eux parvenus à notre connaissance et qui paraissent les plus importants, nous excusant par avance des omissions nombreuses que nous serons forcés de commettre.

Under this heading specimens of African poetry will appear regularly in a European language, and as far as possible also in the original African language. The poems in this number have kindly been supplied by Professor A. Werner.

The information given here is intended to keep members acquainted with opportunities that actually exist for studying African languages at schools and universities in the various countries. Details of courses and the conditions under which they can be attended can be obtained by members from the offices of the Institute.