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rica and Europe Umostthe ntil closing years of the eighteenth century, contacts between Europeans and Africans south of the Sahara were limited for the part to the operation of slavers—West Africa was the source of the human cargo transported in the hundreds of thousands to the Caribbean Islands and North America—to the cursory development of trade, and the activities of missionaries along the coastal areas. There had been some exploring expeditions, principally along the great rivers—the Congo, the Niger, and the Benue—but knowledge of the way of life of the inhabitants of the African interior was cursory. But about 1780, European interest in Africa changed dramatically. A number of related facts of history account for this change. The growth of industrial societies in Europe coincided, more or less, with the abolition of the slave trade. Legitimate trade replaced the slave trade as European coun- tries competed for markets for their goods and sought, in return, supplies of raw materials for their manufacturing needs. A regular commerce between Europe and Africa developed quickly. Because the slave trade had been based in West Africa, it was natural that this is where the British should turn their attention and they began to consider possible ways in which Africa might be developed. Missionary activity increased alongside the development of trade. An embryonic colonization took place. Coupled with these facts was the appli- cation of the social Darwinism of the nineteenth century, the belief held by Europeans that they were at the top of the evolutionary scale, themselves and their societies superior to what they viewed as the primitive and anar-