ABSTRACT
THE commercial value of East Africa is largely dependent on the labour available to develop its Laziness of the products. It has been said that the African Africanis inherently lazy, and that he will do no more work than he is absolutely compelled to, and will relegate even that to his women. This is to some extent true, for the fertility of the soil, and the fact that his wants are limited solely to his daily food, render it unnecessary for the savage to exert himself, since a bountiful nature supplies him with all he needs at a very minimum expenditure of toil. The population of British East Africa (to 6° N. lat.) has been estimated by Mr Ravenstein, an acknowledged authority, at 6J millions, or some 14 per square mile.1 Even this population is restricted to certain areas. Contrast this with, for in-
stance, the population of Mauritius, which supports an average of 381 inhabitants to the square mile, and it will be seen that there is at present little reason for the African of these countries to exert himself, for, so far as space and food supply are concerned, he has not felt the pressure of the " struggle for existence."
