PREFACE.

AFTER availing himself of all the reliable information obtainable, the author is compelled to acknowledge the scantiness of materials for a history of the African race. He has throughout endeavored to give a faithful account of the people and their customs, without concealing their faults.

Several of the biographical sketches are necessarily brief, owing to the difficulty in getting correct information in regard to the subjects treated upon. have been omitted on account of the same cause.

Some

WM. WELLS BROWN.

Cambridgeport, Mass.