This film made by Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree, an English sociologist and philanthropist, documents a trip he took between 1932-33 travelling to different parts of Africa such as Nigeria, Gambia and Sierra Leone. The main purpose of the trip was to procure cocoa, which would be taken back to Yorkshire to make some of the nation's favourite chocolates. The film captures the interworking of Africa's cocoa industry, but also demonstrates Rowntree's particular interest in sociology,...

This film made by Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree, an English sociologist and philanthropist, documents a trip he took between 1932-33 travelling to different parts of Africa such as Nigeria, Gambia and Sierra Leone. The main purpose of the trip was to procure cocoa, which would be taken back to Yorkshire to make some of the nation's favourite chocolates. The film captures the interworking of Africa's cocoa industry, but also demonstrates Rowntree's particular interest in sociology, as he keenly films the local people and much of their traditional customs. Title - T he arid gum country is not interesting to look at. The opening shots of this film show some dry planes in Africa and the farmers who are minding some horned cattle. Title - In the proving of Bornu the travellers were welcomed by the Shehu. The Shehu are dressed in white robes, and the elder stands in front of the camera with a tourist in a white suit. Members of the Shehu then ride pass the camera on horseback; each man carries a similar staff. There then more shots of cattle grazing by a waterhole. Title - Dikwa warriors like to be photographed. A large group of Dikwa warriors ride towards the camera and hold their swords aloft. Title - In Northern Nigeria most of the natives are Mohammedans; here is a village mosque. Children play around a small village with straw huts in the background. There is then a shot of the villagers gathered outside the mosque, followed by people bathing in an expansive lake. Title- Driving though a river may be as costly as a toll bridge. Here are some natives getting their three halfpence each for helping the lorries across. Local men push a car up a steep sand bank. There are shots of lots of people walking across the river, before the filmmaker cuts to show several shots of trucks being pushed through the water, and men carrying the cargo by hand. One of the travellers then stands before a large group of locals paying for their services. Following this there are more shots of huts and local tribesmen on horseback, who parade for the camera before racing. An impressive horde of Dikwa warriors, on horseback, line up and move forward in tight formation. Trucks are then positioned onto a raft in preparation for crossing another open stretch of water. Next there are young boys fishing with nets in the river. The final shot shows a truck ploughing through the water.