The poor creature was no ordinary native girl, but a person of great, I had almost said stately, beauty, and of considerable refinement of mind. But no amount of beauty or refinement could have made an entanglement between Good and herself a desirable occurrence; for, as she herself put it, "Can the sun mate with the darkness, or the white with the black?" (Rider 300) .

             Haggard here wants to make an obvious point about the place of white people and that of black people. He further proves this point through Ignosi"s farewell speech to the British travelers. "I do perceive that thy words are, now as ever, wise and full of reason, Macumazahn; that which flies in the air loves not to run along the ground; the white man loves not to live on the level of the black" (Rider 306). Apparently Ignosi also realizes the inferior nature of Africans. It is clear that Europeans of the time harbored unjust feelings toward the primitive Africans, and felt that they reigned superior over them. The Europeans had so little respect for them that Darwin stated in his Descent of Man that "he would rather be related to a baboon than to 'a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sacrifices without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted by the grossest superstitions"" (Brantlinger 187). .

             The literature of that time reflected how Europeans saw Africa. Many authors of that time wrote non-fictional quest romances in which the hero journey through .

             Kim 3.

             enchanted or bedeviled lands (unknown lands such as Africa). Whether he goes in search of treasure or simply to accomplish some goal, he must adventure against darkness. Africans were usually portrayed as an amusing or dangerous obstacle or as an object of curiosity (Brantlinger 176).

             Despite their low expectations for Africans, nineteenth century Victorians still believed that the "uncivilized" nature of Africa demanded imperialism from the Europeans on all levels; moral, religious, and scientific.