ABSTRACT
Imitation, it is said, is the sincerest form of flattery; hut, according to Jonathan Swift in his Caduceus and Vanessa, "Flattery's the Food of Fools." Histrionics is undoubtedly the special forte of the educated West African ; he is a copyist to the pitch of profane excellence. The average West African of the Mollusca Order, is a clever imitator of everything the Whiteman thinks, and does, and says, particularly in the outward appearance and observance. If he doffed his coat and went about in his shirt sleeves in broad daylight, by reason of our intolerable tropical heat, his Native understudy faithfully followed suit; if, in the cool of the evening, he discarded his headgear, the backboneless myrmidons did likewise.
