The Africans, throughout the process of partition,…

The Africans, throughout the process of partition, are little concerned with the occasional white person who comes wandering by.

Many local rulers in small, isolated communities do not understand or, more often, are misled by the Europeans about the significance of treaties that compromise their authority.

Other local leaders, however, think that the Europeans can solve economic problems or become allies in the event of a dispute with belligerent neighbors.

In the end, the loss of land and freedom by all the local rulers resulta more from their inability to counter European deception and brute strength than from a loss of will to respond to European encroachment.