Abstract
Mr. Campbell provides his readers with an abundance of good stories of big-game hunting, slave traders, and natives and Europeans whom he has met in his twenty-nine years of experience as a missionary. His travels range from the Katanga and Angola to the shores of Lake Nyassa. His use of the word “Bantuland,” not merely in his title but in the text, may be misleading to the uninitiated, as he does not deal with all Bantu peoples, but only with those within the limits mentioned. Even thus he is not always sufficiently explicit in mentioning the tribe to which a particular custom or belief appertains. Many of the peoples with whom he deals are but little known, and his careful description of their culture is a useful addition to our knowledge. His account of secret societies of various types is worthy of note. Mr. Campbell gives to native character a tribute of admiration which is well deserved, as is shown by instances of self-sacrifice and bravery, while he has much to say of the political sagacity and instinct for government displayed by some of the tribes and their chiefs.
In the Heart of Bantuland.
Dugald
Campbell
By. Pp. 313. (London: Seeley, Service and Co., Ltd., 1922.) 21s. net.
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In the Heart of Bantuland . Nature 110, 246 (1922). https://doi.org/10.1038/110246c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/110246c0