It has been done by removing from it certain
sections whole, and leaving the rest very much as it first stood.
Of course it would have been better if I had totally reformed and
rewritten the book in pellucid English; but that is beyond me, and I
feel at any rate this book must be better than it was, for there is
less of it; and I dimly hope critics will now see that there is a
saving grace in disconnectedness, for owing to that disconnectedness
whole chapters have come out without leaving holes.
As for the part that is left in, I have already apologised for its
form, and I cannot help it, for Lower Guinea is like what I have
said it is. No one who knows it has sent home contradictions of my
description of it, or its natives, or their manners or customs, and
they have had by now ample time and opportunity. The only
complaints I have had regarding my account from my fellow West
Coasters have been that I might have said more. I trust my
forbearance will send a thrill of gratitude through readers of the
736-page edition.
There is, however, one section that I reprint, regarding which I
must say a few words. It is that on the trade and labour problem in
West Africa, particularly the opinion therein expressed regarding
the liquor traffic.
