108 CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE.

become additional necessaries imperative to them.

These negroes, the greater part of which are Noubas, are of very amiable disjDOsition, extremely hospitable, exceedingly fond of their children, and possess the most honourable feelings. In their dealings they are particularly upright, and there is no fear of being overreached in transacting business with them ; I will even go so far as to say there is less to be feared in their dwellings than in many European towns which appear far more safe. They are sincere friends, and assist each other in all difficulties ; are endowed with a strong attachment to their native country; and only the most tyrannical oppression, such as existed under the government of the Defturdar, could force a few villages to leave their native land. When they are, however, enraged, they utterly disregard life for the opportunity of revenging themselves. Anger, however, is of exceedingly rare occurrence with their good tempers ; and when a negro is observed to be carried away by passion, a few kind words are only required to pacify him ; but harshness must by no means be resorted to. It is, in fact, necessary to treat them like children ; for their mental faculties are very limited, and they may, indeed, be said to be on the lowest scale. There is, moreover, not the slightest probability of their ever making any progress in the cultivation of their minds, for they manage everything at the present day as it was done a hundred years ago. Their dwellings and domestic utensils.