k. The African is no more lazy than other men, when he
can get value for his labour. This is the true secret for abolishing the
slave trade. Those men come hundreds or thousand of miles to cover
themselves with coal-dust, in an atmosphere where the thermometer
sometimes rises to 120 deg. in the shade, and work "day and night until they
have finished their task," roaring and dancing all the time,
besides--and all this for the stimulant of wages. It is to be presumed
that their performance is "piece-work," the only work which brings out
the true effort of the labourer. Their zeal was said to be so great,
that every hundred tons of coal embarked cost the life of a man. But the
Africans have learned to drink grog; an accomplishment which we should
have thought they would not be long in acquiring, and since that period,
they live longer. This, we must acknowledge, is a new merit in grog; it
is the first time that we have heard of it as a promoter of longevity.

The Arabs on the coast form two classes, perfectly distinct, at least in
their conduct to the English. The class of warriors, being robbers by
profession, are extremely anxious to rob us, and still more indignant at
our preventing their robbery of others. Their piracies have suffered
grievously from the vigilance of our gun-boats, and they have once or
twice actually attempted to storm our fortifications. The consequence
is, that they have been soundly beaten, the majority have left their
carcasses behind them, and the survivors have been taught a "moral
lesson," which has kept them at a respectful distance. But the Arab
cultivators are decent and industrious men, and form the servants of the
town. Whether we shall ever make a great southern colony of the country
adjoining the peninsula, must be a question of the future. But it is
said that a very fine and healthy country extends to the north, and that
the mountains visible from Aden enclose valleys of singular
productiveness and beauty.

Taste in personal decoration differs a good deal in the south from that
of the north. The Arab, with a face as black as ink, thinks an enormous
shock of red hair the perfection of taste; he accordingly dyes his hair
with lime, and thus makes himself, unconsciously, the regular demon of
the stage.

The entrance to the new British settlement is through masses of the
boldest and wildest rocks. After passing a defile between two mountains,
we come to the only access on this side, the "