"Ladies on reading this will open their eyes, and suppose
that either I have very bad taste, or that I am writing
fiction. But I can assure them that among the Angolas, and
the Mpongwe, and the Mandingoes, and the Fula, I have seen
men whose form and features would disgrace no
petticoats,--not even satin ones at a drawing-room.

"While the women are stupid, sulky, and phlegmatic, the men
are vivacious, timid, inquisitive, and garrulous beyond
belief. They make excellent domestic servants, are cleanly,
and even tedious in the nicety with which they arrange
dishes on a table or clothes on a bed. They have also their
friendships after the manner of woman, embracing one
another, sleeping on the same mat, telling one another their
secrets, betraying them, and getting terribly jealous of one
another (from pecuniary motives) when they happen to serve
the same master.

"They have none of that austerity, that reserve, that
pertinacity, that perseverance, that strong-headed stubborn
determination, or that ferocious courage, which are the
common attributes of our sex. They have, on the other hand,
that delicate tact, that intuition, that nervous
imagination, that quick perception of character, which have
become the proverbial characteristics of cultivated women.
They know how to render themselves impenetrable; and if they
desire to be perfidious, they wear a mask which few eyes can
see through, while at the same time a certain sameness of
purpose models their character in similar moulds. Their
nature is an enigma: but solve it, and you have solved the
race. They are inordinately vain: they buy looking-glasses;
they will pass hours at their toilet, in which their wives
must act as _femmes de chambre_; they will spend all their
money on ornaments and dress, in which they can display a
charming taste. They are fond of music, of dancing, and are
not insensible to the beauties of nature. They are indolent,
and have little ambition except to be admired and well
spoken of. They are so sensitive that a harsh word will
rankle in then hearts, and make them unhappy for a length of
time; and they will strip themselves to pay the _grills_ for
their flattery, and to escape their satire. Though naturally
timid, and loath to shed blood, they witness