advice was that, though he promised he should not
again offend, the poor women got another and more
severe beating, and were put in the stocks to prevent
their coming near us to complain. The class of Arabs
we met were certainly a most degraded set, and instead
of improving the country had brought ruin upon
it by their imperiousness and cruelty. All traded
in slaves, whom, for security’s sake, they were often
obliged to treat harshly. At Mineenga, we met
several parties or gangs of slaves in chains, and my
thoughts reverted to the happy village-life in our own
country, a pleasing contrast to such painful and revolting
scenes.
Clad each in a single goat-skin, the slaves kept
themselves warm at night lying near a fire. Never
is the chain unfastened day or night. Should one of
the number require to move, the whole must accompany
him. All ate together boiled sweet potato, or a
spinage made from the leaves of the pumpkin plant,
and were kept in poor condition to prevent their
becoming troublesome. One day a woman-slave, on
seeing our cook casting away the head of a fowl he
had just killed, picked it up, and gave it to a poor
convalescent slave, who grasped it with the eagerness
of a dog. Any meat or bones left over from our
dinner were always given them. A small lad, whose
ears had been cut off (probably a Uganda boy),
watched or accompanied the slaves, and treated them,
I thought, with unfeeling coarseness. A sick slave
having recovered, it was the boy’s duty to chain him
to his gang again, and it was grievous to see the
rough, careless way he used the poor emaciated creature.
Beyond bringing in firewood for themselves
and cleaning corn, they were not much worked. The
sole object of the owner was to keep them alive, and
prevent their running away till sold at the coast. Ten
men and five women had lately deserted, chains and
all, from Sirboko, so that he did not approve of taking
off their irons; “ the birds would soon fly if he did.”
They looked generally sullen and full of despair; but
might be seen dancing, and even riotous at times, till
a word from the earless imp of a boy restored order.
One amongst them was of a cannibal race to the N. W.
of the Tanganyika. In appearance he did not differ
from the rest, but he was laughed at for his cannibal
propensities, which were not entertained by them.
Another who had been five years in chains was heard
by Speke to say that “ life was a burden to him ; he
could stand it no longer.” We had observed him to
be a good fellow, the leader and conductor of his gang,
and we released him from bondage; his chains were
struck off with a hammer while he lay calmly with
his head on a block. Once on his feet, a freed man,
he did not seem to believe the fa c t; but when attired
in a clean sheet of calico by Baraka, he strutted about,
the pet of our Seedees, and came to make us his best
bow. His life had been hazardous, as proved by the
spear-wounds in his body; he had been captured by
the Watuta, who cut off several of his toes, and also
some of his toe-nails. This man never deserted us
the whole journey. It was his good fortune to reach
Cairo, with the character of a faithful servant; and if
any of his companions attempted to assault his benefactor
Baraka, he would instantly fly to defend him
The curiosity of the people was sometimes trying to
our tempers; but it was excusable, as they had never