Having before described the 'Krao' and the Kru republic, with its four
recognised castes, I need not repeat myself. [Footnote: _Wanderings_, &c.,
vol. ii. chap. vi., which ends with a short specimen of the language.] We
again admired the magnificent development of muscle, which stood out in
bunches as on the Farnese Hercules, set off by the most appropriate dress,
a coloured oblong of loin-cloth, tucked in at the waist. We marvelled too
at the contrast of Grecian figure and cynocephalous features, whose
frizzly thatch, often cut into garden-plots, is unnecessarily protected by
a gaudy greasy cap.
In morals too these men are as peculiar as they are contradictory. They
work, and work well: many old Coasters prefer them to all other tribes.
They are at their best in boats or on board ship, especially ships of war,
where they are disciplined. For carrying burdens, or working in the bush,
they are by no means so valuable and yet, as will be seen, they are highly
thought of by some miners in the Gold Mines. In the house they are at
their worst; and they are a nuisance to camp, noisy and unclean. Their
chief faults are lying and thieving; they are also apt to desert, to grow
discontented, to presume, and ever to ask for more.
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