The Kruboy Is Decidedly The Most Likeable Of
All Africans That I Know.
Wherein his charm lies is difficult to
describe, and you certainly want the patience of Job, and a
conscience made of stretching leather to deal with the Kruboy in the
African climate, and live.
In his better manifestations he reminds
me of that charming personality, the Irish peasant, for though he
lacks the sparkle, he is full of humour, and is the laziest and the
most industrious of mankind. He lies and tells the truth in such a
hopelessly uncertain manner that you cannot rely on him for either.
He is ungrateful and faithful to the death, honest and thievish, all
in one and the same specimen of him.
Ingratitude is a crime laid very frequently to the score of all
Africans, but I think unfairly; certainly I have never had to
complain of it, and the Krumen often show gratitude for good
treatment in a grand way. The way those Kruboys of gallant Captain
Lane helped him work Lagos Bar and save lives by the dozen from the
stranded ships on it and hauled their "Massa" out from among the
sharkey foam every time he went into it, on the lifeboat upsetting,
would have done credit to Deal or Norfolk lifeboat men, but the
secret of their devotion is their personal attachment. They do not
save people out of surf on abstract moral principles. The African
at large is not an enthusiast on moral principles, and one and all
they'll let nature take its course if they don't feel keen on a man
surviving.
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