During my travels in Western Ethiopia in 1928 I collected some linguistic and ethnographical information on the peoples locally known (in Sudan Arabic) collected some linguisticas Beni Shangul. They now inhabit the region south of the Blue Nile and east of the former Sudan province of Dar Fung. Their eastern limit in Ethiopian territory is usually indicated as the River Dabus (or Yabus); but some scattered groups of Negro tribes, probably akin to the Beni Shangul, live east of the Dabus as far as the confluence of the River Didessa with the Blue Nile.

In the first part of this article an account was given of the present situation in the British West African Colonies, of some of the problems now existing, or likely to arise, and of the contribution which might be made by sociological research to their solution.

Many Portuguese have been brought up to dislike the term ‘policy’, owing to its having been so often misused in the course of the liberal period in our history (1820-1926); yet true it is that many others were led similarly to dislike the term ‘religion’ in consequence of its having been misused, chiefly in the period when intolerant clergy were to the fore (from the reign of Dom Manuel I, in the sixteenth century, to that of Dona Maria I, in the nineteenth century). By degrees, these terms are coming into their own again. The Portuguese politica, derived from the Greek through the Latin, has in English three equivalents— ‘politics’, the science of guiding peoples; ‘polity’, their constitution; and ‘policy’, the resulting activities. It is mainly with this last I wish to deal, viz. with Portuguese activities in the handling of colonial peoples and affairs. However, it appears to me necessary to begin with the constitutional and legal documents which determine such activities at the present day, in order to ascertain the factors which brought into being the legislation in question, the methods of applying it, and what has resulted therefrom.

Ce n'est pas sans angoisse qu'un jeune citadin du Sénégal envisage aujourd'hui de se marier. La littérature sénégalaise de langue française en témoigne: de plus, il n'est guère de numéro du journal dakarois Réveil qui ne reflète cette préoccupation. Elle est si caractéristique de la vie sociale de ce qu'on appelle ‘les escales’ dans la terminologie sénégalaise, qu'un envoyé de la presse métropolitaine n'a pas craint de donner pour titre à son reportage sur cette question: ‘le marché noir des noires’.

The frequent use of proverbs appears to be one sign of respect for tradition and authority, for a proverb enshrines the wisdom of one's ancestors and the use of a proverb may be construed as respect for the wisdom of the past. The apt use of a proverb tends to close an argument triumphantly or move the previous question. Mende is very rich in proverbs. The number current must run into thousands. Yet until recently, when the Bunumbu Press, Sierra Leone, published two untranslated collections for use in connexion with literacy campaigns, very few had been recorded. In A View of Sierra Leone Migeod noted a number which were revised by E. Harnetty in Sierra Leone Studies No. IX. In Sierra Leone School Notes No. 6, September 1941, the Rev. E. Avery lists some twenty-four. These are the only publications known to me which provide any translation, literal or otherwise, or any comment. Yet it was comparatively easy to compile a list of three hundred Mεnde proverbs and to illustrate by a representative selection.

This is reproduced, with the permission of Mr. Christeller, manager of the Morija Book Depot, from the author's volume Lithothokiso tsa Moshoeshoe le tse ling (Morija, 1931). The translation has been made by the Rev. Georges Dieterlen, who says :‘J'ai essayé de rester aussi près du texte que possible.’