ABSTRACT
I HAVE often tried to picture to myself what the mind of the African is like, what is the point of view from which he reviews any given situation, what his thoughts are and how the ordinary events of life strike him. There are a few exceptions who are capable of consecutive ideas, but I believe the mind of the average savage is in a nebulous, hazy condition, incapable of concentrated thought. From this hazy mist, present and nearat-hand objects stand out fairly clearly, but distant and abstract matters remain clouded or absolutely invisible. I believe that he can sit for hours at a time without a thou~ht of any sort occurring to him. It never occurs to him to demand the why and the wherefore; he just accepts what he hears and sees as facts.
