lished the custom o f identifying the two classes
o f Zanzibar negroes as Watuma— slaves— and
Wangwana— freemen. Later, however, came a
new distinction, and the word Watuma, except
in special and local cases, was dropped, for,
with the advent o f the free native traders
direct from the mainland, and the increase o f
traffic between Zanzibar and the continent, as
well as out o f courtesy to their own slaves,
the Arabs began to ask the black stranger,
“ A r e you Mgwana, a freeman, or Mshensi, a
p a g an ? ” In disputes among themselves the
question is still asked, “ A re yo u a slave or a
freeman?” but when strangers are involved, it
is always, “ A re yo u Mgwana, a freeman or a
native o f Zanzibar, or a Mshensi, a pagan or an
uncircumcised native o f the mainland?”
It will be thus seen that the word “ Wangwana
” is now a generic, widely used, and well understood
for the coloured natives o f Zanzibar.
When, therefore, the term is employed in this
b ook , it includes alike both the slaves and the
freemen o f Zanzibar.
After nearly seven y e a rs ’ acquaintance with
the Wangwana, I have come to perceive that
th e y represent in their character much o f the
disposition o f a large portion o f the negro tribes
o f the continent. I find them capable o f great
love and affection, and possessed o f gratitude
and other noble traits o f human nature: I know
too that they can be made good, obedient servants,
that many are clever, honest, industrious,
docile, enterprising, brave and moral; that th e y
are, in short, equal to any other race or colour
on the face o f the globe, in all the attributes
o f manhood. But to be able to perceive their
worth, the traveller must bring an unprejudiced
judgment, a clear, fresh, and patient observation,
and must forget that lofty standard o f excellence
upon which he and his race pride themselves,
before he can fairly appreciate the capabilities
o f the Zanzibar negro. The traveller should not
forget the origin o f his own race, the condition
of the Briton before St. Augustine visited his
country, but should rather recall to mind the
first state o f the “ wild Caledonian,” and the
original circumstances and surroundings o f Primitive
Man.
Louis Figuier says :— “ However much our
pride may suffer b y the idea, we must confess
that, at the earliest period o f his existence, man
could have been but little distinguished from the
brute. His pillow was a stone, his ro o f was
the shadow o f a wide-spreading tree, or some
dark cavern, w'hich also served as a refuge
against wild beasts.”
And again, in his chapter on the “ Iron Epoch,”
he notes how “ From the day when iron was
first placed at man’s disposal, civilization began
to make its longest strides, and as the working