ABSTRACT
An officer of any intelligence will certainly adopt some general rule to guide him in practice, perhaps consciously, perhaps unconsciously, and his temperament influenced by his education will lead him to adopt one of these three systems. The shortness of the tour of service in West Africa, and the needs of the administration, which do in practice, whatever may be the theory, often causes the different administrative units to change hands with comparative frequency. There is a game of dice termed “cha cha,” played with cowrie shells, which is very prevalent among a certain class of native in Nigeria. There are three different systems any of which may be adopted by the dominating European race for the control of a native race. One of these may be termed Direct Rule and another Indirect Rule. To the third it is hard to attach a brief designation; it is a kind of half-way house between the other two.
