entered into without requiring the presence of
each person’s friends and relatives to witness
and sanction the engagements, so that on this
d ay the parents, uncles, cousins, and near and
distant relatives, wives and children, were in attendance,
and crowded every room and court at the
American Consulate. T he entire amount disbursed
in cash for advances o f p a y and rations at Zanzibar
andBagamoyo was 6260 dollars, or nearly £1300.
The obligations, however, were not all on one
side. Besides the due payment to them o f their
wages on demand, and selling them such cloths
as th ey would require for dress while in Africa
at reasonable prices, which would be a little
above cost price at Zanzibar, I was compelled
to bind myself to them, on the word o f an
“ honourable white man,” to observe the following
conditions as to conduct towards them:—
1 st. That I should treat them kindly, and be
patient with them.
2nd. That in cases o f sickness, I should dose
them with proper medicine, and see them
nourished with the best the country afforded.
That if patients were unable to proceed, they
should not be abandoned to the mercy o f heathen,
but were to be conveyed to such places
as should be considered safe for their persons and
their freedom, and convenientfor their return, on convalescence,
to their friends. That, with all patients
thus left behind, I should leave sufficient cloth or
Z an z ib a r .] MUTUAL OBLIGATIONS. 83
beads to p a y the native practitioner for his professional
attendance, and for the support of the patient.
3rd. That in cases o f disagreement between man
and man, I should judge justly, honestly, and impartially.
That I should do my utmost to prevent the
ill-treatment o f the weak b y the strong, and never
permit the oppression o f those unable to resist.
4th. That I should act like a “ father and
| mother ” to them, and to the best o f my ability
resist all violence offered to them b y “ savage
natives, and roving and lawless banditti.”
T h e y also promised, upon the above conditions
being fulfilled, that they would do their
duty like men, would honour and respect my
instructions, giving me their united support and
I endeavouring to the best o f their ability to be
faithful servants, and would never desert me in
the hour o f need. In short, that they would
behave like good and loy al children, and “ may
the blessing o f God,” said they, “b e upon us.M
How we kept this bond o f mutual trust and
forbearance, and adhered to each other in the
hours o f sore trouble and distress, faithfully
performing our duties to one another: how w e
encouraged and sustained, cheered and assisted
one another, and in all the services and good
offices due from man to man, and comrade to
comrade, from chief to servants and from servants
to chief, how we kept our plighted word
o f promise, will be best seen in the following
Gz