cannot sell his domestic, without, having first brought him to a public trial, before the chief men of the place. * But these restrictions on the power of the master, extend not to the case of prisoners taken in war,- nor to that of slaves purchased with money. All these unfortunate beings are considered as strangers and foreigners, who have no right to the protection of the law, and may be treated with severity, or sold to a stranger, according to the pleasure of their owners. There are, indeed, regular markets, where slaves of this description are bought and sold ; and the value of a slave in the eye of an African purchaser, increases in proportion to his distance from his native kingdom : for when slaves are only a few days'journey from the place of their nativity, they frequently effect their escape ; but when one or more kingdoms intervene, escape being more difficult, they are more readily reconciled to their situation. On this account, the unhappy slave is frequently transferred from one dealer to another, until he has lost all hopes of returning to his native kingdom. The slaves which are purchased by the Europeans on the Coast, are chiefly of this description ; a few of them are collected in the petty wars, hereafter to be described, which take place near the Coast ; but by far the greater number are brought down in large caravans * In time o f famine, tire master- is permitted to sell onè or more o f his domestics,.'to purchase próvisfons for his family ; and in case o f the master’s insolvency, the domestic slaves are sometimes seized upon by the creditors ; and if the master cannot redeem them, they are liable to, be sold for payment o f his debts. These are the oi)ly cases that I recollect, in which the domestic slaves are liable to be sold, without any misconduct or demerit o f their own. from ¿he inland countries, of .which many are unknown, even by name, to the Europeans. The slaves which are thus brought from the interior, may, be divided into fwo distinct classes; first, such as were slaves, from their hirth» haying been bom of enslaved mothers; secondly, such as were born free, but who afterwards, by whatever means, became slaves. ■ Those of the first description, are by ,fay the most numerous for prisoners taken in war (at least such as are,taken; in open and declared war, when one; kingdom avows hostilities against another) are generally of this description. The comparatively small proportion of free people, to the enslaved, throughout Africa, has already been noticed ; and it must be observed, that men of free condition, have many advantages;, oyer the slaves, even in war time. They are in general better armed, and-well mounted ; and can either fight or escape, with some hopes of success; but the slaves, who have only their spears and bows, and of whom great numbers are loaded with; baggage, become an easy prey. Thus, when Mansong, King of Bambarra, made war upon Kaarta (as I have related in a former Chapter), he took in one day nine hundred prisoners, of which nupber.not more than seventy were free men. . This; account I received from Daman Jumma, who had thirty slaves at Kemmoo, all of whom were made prisoners by Mansong. Again, when a freeman is taken prisoner, his friends will sometimes ransom him, by giving two slaves in exchange ; but when a slave is taken, ,he has no hopes of such redemption. T o these disadvantages, it is to be added, that the Slatees, who purchase slaves in the interior countries, and carry thenv down to the Coast for, sale, P p
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