# A Chapter on Slavery/Section 3

Contents
SECTION III.
SLAVERY IN AFRICA.
We come now to speak of the slavery of the African race,—a subject which has of late taken so much of the attention of philanthropists. It seems, at ﬁrst View, one of the most dark and inscrutable permissions of Divine Providence, to suffer the carrying away of thousands and even millions of a particular race of men from their own country, to labor in servitude in other regions of the earth. And some, perhaps, have felt at times disposed to question either the existence or the goodness of an overruling Power, when such a wrong could be permitted to go on so long unchecked. But it would be poor reasoning to conclude that, because our ﬁnite and narrow minds cannot at once grasp the purposes of an Omniscient and Inﬁnite Being, therefore such a Being does not exist, when His works all around us testify in the plainest manner to His existence, His wisdom, and His goodness. It would be a far wiser and juster View, to presume that we do not understand His designs, than that there are none, or that they are not wise and good. How vast must be His plans, who looks from eternity to eternity, and ​who is contriving and calculating (to speak according to human language) for ages and ages to come; who patiently waits centuries for His great purposes to be developed, and calls on slumbering futurity to arise and testify to His doings.
It is only by taking a very wide view, that we are enabled to form any conception whatever of the purposes of Divine Providence; and it is scarcely possible to have a distinct understanding of those purposes, until the time arrives when they are beginning to develop themselves in results. From facts which have within the last half-century come to our knowledge, and from events which have been taking place within the last thirty years, we are now able to have some comprehension of the probable designs of Providence in permitting the African slave — trade. The facts to which we refer are the particulars which have been made known to us by recent travelers concerning the interior state of Africa itself. From these we learn, that a great portion of the inhabitants of that country are, and have from the earliest periods been, in a state of slavery amongst themselves. The celebrated traveler, Mungo Park, informs us, that nearly three-fourths of all the inhabitants of Africa are in the condition of slaves. And this statement we can the more readily credit, when taken in connection with another, namely, that "hired servants — that is, persons of free condition, working for pay — are unknown "in that country, and that "the labor is universally performed by slaves."
"A state of subordination," he remarks, in commencing his description of African slavery, "and certain ​inequalities of-rank and condition are inevitable in every stage of civil society; but when this subordination is carried to so great a length as that the persons and services of one part of the community are entirely at the disposal of another part, it may then be denominated a state of slavery: and in this condition of life a great body of the inhabitants of Africa have continued from the most early period of their history, — with this aggravation, that their children are born to no other inheritance." The writer then proceeds to state some particulars concerning the numbers and condition of the slaves as follows: —
"The slaves in Africa are, I suppose, nearly in the proportion of three to one to the freemen. They claim no reward for their services except food and clothing, and are treated with kindness or severity according to the good or bad disposition of their masters. Custom, however, has established certain rules with regard to the treatment of slaves, which it is thought dishonorable to violate. Thus, the domestic slaves, or such as are born in a man's house, are treated with more lenity than those which are purchased with money. The authority of the master over the domestic slave extends only to reasonable correction; for the master cannot sell his domestic, without having brought him to a public trial before the chief men of the place. In time of famine, however, the master is permitted to sell one or more of his domestics, to purchase provisions for his family; and in case of the master's insolvency, the domestic slaves are sometimes seized upon by the creditors, and if the master cannot redeem them, they are sold for payment of his debts. These are the only ​cases that I recollect, in which the domestic slaves are liable to be sold, without any misconduct or demerit of their own. 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 easily 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 Europeans on the coast are chiefly of this description. A few of them are collected in the petty wars which take place near the coast, but by far the greater number are brought down in large caravans from the inland countries, of which many are unknown even by name to Europeans.
"The slaves which are thus brought from the interior, may be divided into two distinct classes, — first, such as were slaves from their birth, having been born of enslaved mothers; secondly, such as were born free, but who afterwards by whatever means became slaves. ​Those of the first description (born slaves) are by far the most numerous; for prisoners taken in war are generally of this class. The comparatively small proportion of free people to the enslaved, throughout Africa, has been already noticed; and it must be observed, that men of free condition have many advantages over 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 great numbers of whom are loaded with baggage, become an easy prey. Thus when Mansong, King of Bambarra, made war upon Kaarta, he took in one day ‘nine hundred prisoners, of whom only seventy were freemen. Again, when a freeman is taken prisoner, his friends will sometimes ransom him, by two slaves in exchange; but when a slave is taken, he has no hopes of such redemption. To these disadvantages it is to be added, that the slatees, who purchase slaves in the interior countries, and carry them down to the coast for sale, constantly prefer such as have been in that condition of life from their infancy; well knowing that these have been accustomed to hunger and fatigue, and are better able to sustain the hardships of a long and painful journey than freemen. And on reaching the coast, if no opportunity offers of selling them to advantage, they can easily be made to maintain themselves by their labor: neither are they so apt to attempt to make their escape as those who have once tasted the blessings of freedom."
The writer then proceeds to give an account of the manner in which the second class of slaves, or those ​not born such, become reduced to slavery: this lets us still further into an understanding of the true condition of Africa.
"Slaves of the second description generally become such by one or other of the following causes: — 1. Captivity; 2. Famine; 3. Insolvency; 4. Crimes. A freeman may, by the established customs of Africa, become a slave, by being taken in war. War is, of all others, the most productive source, and was probably the origin, of slavery; for when one nation had taken from another a greater number of captives than could be exchanged on equal terms, it is natural to suppose that the conquerors, finding it inconvenient to maintain their prisoners, would compel them to labor, — at first, perhaps, only for their own support, but afterwards to support their masters. Be this as it may, it is a known fact, that prisoners of war in Africa are the slaves of the conquerors; and when the weak or unsuccessful warrior begs for mercy beneath the uplifted spear of his opponent, he gives up at the same time his claim to liberty, and purchases his life at the expense of his freedom.
"In a country divided into a thousand petty states, mostly independent and jealous of each other, where every freeman is accustomed to arms, and fond of military achievements, — where the youth who has practised the bow and spear from his infancy longs for nothing so much as an opportunity to display his valor, — it is natural to imagine that wars frequently originate from very frivolous provocations. When one nation is more powerful than another, a pretext is seldom wanting to commence hostilities. Thus, the ​war between Kajaaga and Kasson was occasioned by the detention of a fugitive slave 3 — that between Bambarra and Kaarta by the loss of a few cattle. Other cases of the same nature perpetually occur, in which the folly or mad ambition of their princes, and the zeal of their religious enthusiasts, give full employment ‘ to the scythe of desolation.
"The wars of Africa are of two kinds, which are distinguished by different appellations. That species which bears the greatest resemblance to our European contests, is denominated Killi, a word signifying ‘to call out,' because such wars are openly avowed and previously declared. Wars of this description in Africa commonly terminate, however, in the course of a single campaign. A battle is fought — the vanquished seldom think of rallying again — the whole inhabitants become panic-struck — and the conquerors have only to bind the slaves, and carry off their plunder and their victims. Such of the prisoners as through age or infirmity are unable to endure fatigue, or are found unfit for sale, are considered as useless, and, I have no doubt, are frequently put to death. The same fate commonly awaits a chief, or any other person who has taken a very distinguished part in the war.
"The other species of African warfare is distinguished by the appellation of Tegria (plundering or stealing). It arises from a sort of hereditary feud, which the inhabitants of one nation or district bear towards another. No immediate cause of hostility is assigned, or notice of attack given, but the inhabitants of each watch every opportunity to plunder and distress the objects of their animosity by predatory excursions. ​These are very common, particularly about the beginning of the dry season, when the labor of the harvest is over, and pro visions are plentiful. Schemes of vengeance are then meditated. The chief man surveys the number and activity of his vassals, as they brandish their spears at festivals; and, elated with his own importance, turns his whole thoughts towards revenging some depredation or insult, which either he or his ancestors may have received from a neighboring state. Wars of this description are generally conducted with great secrecy. A few resolute individuals, headed by some person of enterprise and courage, march quietly through the woods, surprise in the night some unprotected village, and carry off the inhabitants and their effects, before their neighbors can come to their assistance. One morning during my stay at Kamalia we were all much alarmed by a party of this kind. The king of Fooladoo's son, with five hundred horsemen, passed secretly through the woods a little to the southward of us, and on the morning following plundered three towns.
"These plundering excursions always produce some speedy retaliation; and when large parties cannot be collected for this purpose, a few friends will combine together, and advance into the enemy's country, with a view to plunder or carry off the inhabitants. A single individual has been known to take his bow and quiver, and proceed in like manner. Such an attempt is doubtless in him an act of rashness 3 but when it is considered, that in one of these predatory wars he has probably been deprived of his child or his nearest relation, his situation will rather call for pity than ​censure. The poor sufferer, urged on by the feelings of domestic or paternal attachment, and by the ardor of revenge, conceals himself amongst the bushes, until some young or unarmed person passes by: then, tigerlike, he springs upon his prey, drags his victim into the thicket, and in the night carries him off as his slave."
What a picture of unmitigated barbarism is this! It is surpassed only by the still more ferocious character of the negroes of Dahomey, with whom human skulls are said to constitute the, favorite ornament in the construction of palaces and temples; and whose king has the floor of his sleeping-room paved with the skulls, and the ceiling ornamented with the jaw-bones, of the chiefs he has conquered in battle. One of these kings is said to have put to death, at the funeral of his mother, three thousand prisoners, to build a tomb with their skulls. — Park thus continues:
"When a negro has, by means like these, once fallen into the hands of his enemies, he is either retained as the slave of his conqueror, or bartered into a distant kingdom; for an African, when he has once subdued his enemy, will seldom give him an opportunity of lifting up his hand against him at a future period. A conqueror commonly disposes of his captives according to the rank which they held in their native kingdom. Such of the domestic slaves as appear to be of a mild disposition, and particularly the young women, are retained as his own slaves. Others, that display marks of discontent, are disposed of in a distant country; and such of the freemen ‘ or slaves as have taken an active part in the war, are either sold to the slatees [negro slave-dealers] or are put to death. War, therefore, is ​certainly the most general and most productive source of slavery.
"The desolations of war, moreover, often produce the second cause of slavery, famine; in which case a freeman becomes a slave to avoid a still greater calamity. There are many instances of freemen voluntarily surrendering their liberty to save their lives. During a great scarcity which lasted for three years, in the countries of the Gambia, great numbers of people became slaves in this manner. Dr. Laidley assured me that at that time many freemen came and begged with great earnestness to be put upon his slave-chain, to save them from perishing of hunger. Large families are often exposed to absolute want; and as the parents have almost unlimited authority over their children, it frequently happens, in all parts of Africa, that some of the latter are sold to purchase provisions for the rest of the family. When I was at Jarra, Daman Jumma pointed out to me three young slaves whom he had purchased in this manner.
"The third cause of slavery is insolvency. Of all the offences insolvency may be so called) to which the laws of Africa have affixed the punishment of slavery, this is the most common. A negro trader commonly contracts debts in some mercantile speculation, either from his neighbors, to purchase such articles as will sell to advantage in a distant market, or from the European traders on the coast — payment to be made in a given time. In both cases the situation of the adventurer is exactly the same. If he succeeds, he may secure an independency: if he is unsuccessful, his person and services are at the disposal of another. ​For in Africa, not only the effects of the insolvent, but even the insolvent himself, is sold, to satisfy the lawful demands of his creditors.
"The fourth cause above enumerated is the commission of crimes to which the laws of the country have affixed slavery as a punishment.
"When" a freeman has become a slave by any one of the causes before mentioned, he generally continues so for life, and his children they are born of an enslaved mother) are brought up in the same state of servitude."
In regard to the treatment of the slaves in Africa, the same author, in addition to the general remarks already quoted, presents some occasional pictures, such as follow (he is describing some of the Moorish tribes on the southern border of the Great Desert): —
"The employment of the women varies according to their degrees of opulence. Queen Fatima and a few others of high rank, like the great ladies in some parts of Europe, pass their time chiefly in conversing with their visitors, performing their devotions, or admiring their charms in a looking-glass. The women of inferior class employ themselves in different domestic duties. ​They are vain and talkative; and when anything puts them out of humor, they commonly vent their anger upon their female slaves, over whom they rule with severe and despotic authority, — which leads me to observe, that the condition of these poor captives is deplorably wretched. At day-break they are compelled to fetch water from the wells in large skins; and as soon as they have brought water enough to serve the family for the day, as well as the horses (for the Moors seldom give their horses the trouble of going to the wells), they are then employed in pounding corn and dressing the victuals. This being always done in the open air, the slaves are exposed to the combined heat of the sun, the sand, and the fire. In the intervals, it is their business to sweep the tent, churn the milk, and perform other domestic offices. With all this, they are badly fed, and oftentimes cruelly treated."
Here is another scene:
"About two o'clock I came to the village of Socha, and endeavoured to purchase some corn from the dooty [chief man of the village], who was sitting by the gate, — but without success. I then requested a little food by way of charity, but was told he had none to spare. Whilst I was examining the countenance of this inhospitable old man, and endeavouring to find out the cause of the sullen discontent which was visible in his eye, he called to a slave who was working in the com-field at a little distance, and ordered him to bring his hoe along with him. The dooty then told him to dig a hole in the ground, ​pointing to a spot at no great distance. The slave with his hoe began to dig a pit in the earth; and the dooty, who appeared to be a man of a very fretful disposition, kept muttering and talking to himself until the pit was almost finished; when he repeatedly pronounced the words daulcatoo (good for nothing), jankm lemen (a real plague), — which expressions I thought could be applied to nobody but myself; and as the pit had very much the appearance of a grave, I thought it prudent to mount my horse, and was about to decamp, when the slave, who had before gone into the village, to my surprise returned with the corpse of a boy about nine or ten years of age, quite naked. The negro carried the body by a leg and an arm, and threw it into the pit with a savage indifference which I had never before seen. As he covered the body with the earth, the dooty often expressed himself naphula attiniata (money lost), — whence I concluded that the boy had been one of his slaves."
Here is a brief description of the. pursuit and recovery of a fugitive slave:
"In the afternoon one of his slaves eloped; and a general alarm being given, every person who had a horse rode into the woods, in the hopes of apprehending him; and Demba Sego begged the use of my horse for the same purpose. I readily consented; and in about an hour, they all returned with the slave, who was severely flogged, and afterwards put in irons"
Here, again, is a specimen of the internal slave trade: ​"I was walking barefoot, driving my horse, when I was met by a coffle [gang or company] of slaves, about seventy in number, coming from Sego. They were tied together by their necks with thongs of a bullock's hide, twisted like a rope, seven slaves upon a thong, and a man with a musket between every. seven. Many of the slaves were ill-conditioned, and a great number of them women. These slaves were going to Morocco, by the way of Ludamar and the Great Desert."
And here it may be observed, that the sufferings endured by the slaves in crossing the Desert of Sahara are described as being even greater than those experienced in the "middle passage" across the Atlantic. "Driven by Arab merchants to the north of Africa, through the deep and burning sands of Sahara, scantily supplied with water, they sink in great numbers under their sufferings. Major Denham and his companions saw, in their journeyings, melancholy proofs of the horrors attending this ‘middle passage' over land. They at one time halted near a. well, around which were lying more than one hundred human skeletons, some of them with the skin still remaining on their bones. ‘They were only blacks,' said the Arabs, when they observed the horror of the travelers; and they began to knock about the limbs and skulls with the butt-ends of their guns. Denham says they counted in another place one hundred and seven skeletons. In other instances they passed sixty or eighty skeletons a-day, scattered along over that dreary waste. — ‘While,' says Denham, ‘I was dozing on ​my horse, about noon, overcome by the heat of the sun, I was suddenly awakened by a crashing under my feet; and found that my steed had stepped on. the perfect skeletons of two human beings, cracking their brittle bones under his feet; and by one trip of his foot separating a skull from the trunk, it rolled on like a ball before him.' About the walls of El-Hamar, they saw many; and among the rest, the skeletons of two young females, faithful friends it would seem, even in death, for they lay with their fleshless arms still clasped round each other." We hear much of the] horrors of the slave-trade on the western coast, and of the 'middle passage" across the Atlantic; but were that all put an end to to-morrow, the sufferings of the Africans would be but very partially relieved, while the internal slave-trade in their own country is still so actively going on. We must extend our plans and push our efforts far beyond American slavery, and even beyond the Atlantic slave-trade, — into the heart of Africa itself, — if we would strike at the root of the evil, and put an end to the sufferings of humanity that spring from this source. American slavery is but a drop in the bucket; it is merely one of the branches of African slavery.
Here is a description of the manner in which these wretched slaves, about to be driven across the Desert, are procured:
"In Bornou, where the slave-trade is carried on to an immense extent and is the principal traffic, the mode in which slaves are procured is very summary. ​A caravan of Moorish merchants arrives and offers goods for slaves. If there are no slaves on hand, they must be procured. The Sultan immediately collects his forces, marches into the country of some harmless tribe, burns their villages, destroys their fields and flocks, massacres the infirm and old, and returns with as many able-bodied prisoners as he can seize. Sometimes 3,000 have been obtained in a single ‘ghrazie,' as these expeditions are called." What a picture of savagery and cruelty is this! And. the slave-trade across the Great Desert, sustained by these enormities, has been going on to Bancroft) since A.D. 990, — nearly nine hundred years.
Here may be introduced another extract from Mungo Park, which presents a view at once of the internal slave-trade of Africa, and of the sufferings which the slaves sometimes endure in their long journeys from the interior to the western coast. The person, Karfa, mentioned in the extract, was a slatee or African slave-dealer, by no means cruel, but on the whole a kind-hearted man, who showed great kindness to Park, and was the means, indeed, of his being enabled to reach the coast on his return, and thus take ship for home. The narrative simply exhibits the wretched customs of a country where a "prime slave" is the ordinary standard of value.
"On the 24th of January, Karfa returned to Kamalia with a number of people, and. thirteen prime slaves whom he had purchased — The slaves which Karfa had brought with him were all of ​them prisoners of war; they had been taken by the Bambarra army and carried to Sego, where some of them had remained three years in irons. From Sego they were sent in company with a number of captives up the Niger in two large canoes, and offered for sale at Yammina, Bambakoo, and Kancaba; at which places, the greater number of the captives were bartered for gold dust, and the remainder sent forward to Kankaree.
"Eleven of these [that is, of the thirteen] confessed to me that they had been slaves from their infancy, but the other two refused to give any account of their former condition. They were all very inquisitive, but they viewed me at first with looks of horror, and repeatedly asked if my countrymen were cannibals. They were very desirous to know what became of the slaves after they had crossed the salt-water. I told them that they were employed in cultivating the land; but they would not believe me, and one of them, putting his hand upon the ground, said, with great simplicity, ‘Have you really got such ground as this to set your feet upon?' A deeply-rooted idea, that the whites purchase negroes for the purpose of devouring them, or of selling them to others, that they may be devoured hereafter, naturally makes the slaves contemplate a journey towards the coast with great terror, insomuch that the slatees are forced to keep them constantly in irons, and watch them very closely, to prevent their escape. They are commonly secured by putting the right leg of one and the left of another into the same pair of fetters. By supporting the fetters with a string, they can walk, though very ​slowly. Every four slaves are likewise fastened together by the necks with a strong rope of twisted thongs, and in the night an additional pair of fetters is put on their hands, and sometimes a light iron chain is put round their necks. Such of them as evince marks of discontent are secured in a different manner. A thick billet of wood is out about three feet long, and a smooth notch being made on one side of it, the ankle of the slave is bolted to the smooth part by means of a strong iron staple, one prong of which passes on each side of the ankle — In other respects the treatment of the slaves during their stay at Kamalia was far from being harsh or cruel. They were led out in their fetters every morning to the shade of the tamarind-tree, where they were encouraged to play at games of hazard, and sing diverting songs to keep up their spirits; for though some of them sustained the hardships of their situation with amazing fortitude, the greater part were very much dejected, and would sit all day in a sort of sullen melancholy, with their eyes fixed upon the ground.
"The long wished-for day of our departure at length arrived: and the slatees having taken the irons from their slaves, assembled with them at the door or Karfa’s house, where the bundles were all tied up, and every one had his load assigned him. The coffie [company], on its departure from Kamalia, consisted of twenty-seven slaves for sale, the property of Karfa and four other slatees; but we were afterwards joined by five at Maraboo, and three at Bala, making in all thirty-five slaves. As many of the slaves had remained for years in irons, the sudden exertion of walking ​quick with heavy loads upon their heads occasioned spasmodic contractions of the legs; and we had not proceeded above a mile, before it was found necessary to take two of them from the rope, and allow them to walk more slowly until we reached Maraboo, a walled village, where some people were waiting to join the coffle. — From this place, we continued to travel with the greatest expedition, and in the afternoon crossed two small branches of the Kokoro. About sunset, we came in sight of a considerable town, nearly square, situated in the middle of a large and well cultivated plain: before we entered the town, we halted until the people who had fallen behind came up. During this day's travel, two slaves, a woman and a girl, belonging to a slatee at Bala, were so much fatigued that they could not keep up with the coffle. They were severely whipped, and dragged along until about three o'clock in the afternoon, when they were both affected with vomiting, by which it was discovered that they had eaten clay. This practice is by no means uncommon amongst the negroes, — but whether it arises from a vitiated appetite, or from a settled intention to destroy themselves, I cannot affirm.
"April 24th. — Before day-break, the bushreens [Mahometans] said their morning-prayers, and most of the free people drank a little moening (a sort of gruel), part of which was likewise given to such of the slaves as appeared least able to sustain the fatigues of the day. One of Karfa's female slaves was very sulky, and when some gruel was offered to her, she refused to drink it. As soon as day dawned, we set out, and ​traveled the whole morning over a wild and rocky country, by which my feet were much bruised, and I was sadly apprehensive that I should not be able to keep up with the coffle during the day; but I was in great measure relieved from this anxiety, when I observed that others were more exhausted than myself. In particular the woman-slave who had refused victuals in the morning, began now to lag behind, and complain dreadfully of pains in her legs. Her load was taken from her, and given to another slave, and she was ordered to keep in the front of the coffle. About eleven o'clock, as we were resting by a small rivulet, some of the people discovered a hive of bees in a hollow tree, and they were proceeding to obtain the honey, when the largest swarm I ever beheld flew out, and attacking the people of the coffle, made us fly in all directions. I took the alarm first, and I believe was the only person who escaped with impunity. When our enemies thought fit to desist from pursuing us, and every person was employed in picking out the stings he had received, it was discovered that the poor woman above mentioned, whose name was Nealee, was not come up; and as many of the slaves in their retreat had left their bundles behind them, it became necessary for some persons to return and bring them. In order to do this with safety, fire was set to the grass a considerable way to the eastward of the hive; and the wind driving the fire furiously along, the party pushed through the smoke, and recovered the bundles. They likewise brought with them poor Nealee, whom they found lying by the rivulet. She was very much exhausted, and had crept to the stream in hopes to defend ​herself from the bees, by throwing water over her body; but this proved ineffectual, for she was stung in the most dreadful manner.
"When the slatees had picked out the stings as well as they could, she was washed with water, and then rubbed with bruised leaves; but the wretched woman obstinately refused to proceed any further, declaring that she would rather die than walk another step. As entreaties and threats were used in vain, the whip was at length applied; and after bearing patiently a few strokes, she started up, and walked with tolerable expedition for four or five hours longer, when she made an attempt to run away from the coffle, but was so very weak that she fell down in the grass. Though she was unable to rise, the whip was a second time applied, but without effect, upon which Karfa desired two of the slatees to place her upon the ass which carried our dried provisions; but she could not sit erect, and, the ass being very refractory, it was found impossible to carry her forward in that manner. The slatees, however, were unwilling to abandon her, the day's journey being nearly ended; they therefore made a sort of litter of bamboo canes, upon which she was placed, and tied on it with slips of bark; the litter was carried upon the heads of two slaves, one walking before the other, and they were followed by two others, who relieved them occasionally. In this manner the woman was carried forward until it was dark, when we reached a stream of water, at the foot of a high hill, and here we stopped for the night, and set about preparing our supper. As we had eaten only one handful of meal since the preceding night, and had traveled all ​day in a hot sun, many of the slaves who had loads upon their heads, were very much fatigued, and some of them snapped theirfingers, which among the negroes is a sure sign of desperation. The slatees immediately put them all in irons; and such of them as had evinced signs of great despondency were kept apart from the rest, and had their hands tied. In the morning they, were found greatly recovered.
"April 25th — At day-break, poor Nealee was awakened, but her limbs were now become so stiff and painful that she could neither walk nor stand. She was therefore lifted, like a corpse, upon the back of the ass, and the slatees endeavoured to secure her in that situation by fastening her hands together under the ass's neck, and her feet under the belly, with long slips of bark; but the ass was so very unruly that no sort of treatment could induce him to proceed with his load, and as Nealee used no sort of exertion to prevent herself from falling, she was quickly thrown off, and had one of her legs much bruised. Every attempt to carry her forward being thus found ineffectual, the general cry of the coffle was Kang-tegi, kang-tegi! ("cut her throat, cut her throat!") an operation I did not wish to see performed, and therefore marched onwards with the foremost of the coffle. I had not walked above a mile, when one of Karfa's domestic slaves came up to me, with poor Nealee's garment on the end of his bow, and exclaimed Nealee affeeleeta ("Nealee is lost!") I asked him whether the slatees had given him the garment, as a reward for cutting her throat; he replied, that Karfa would not consent to that measure, but had left her on the road, where undoubtedly ​she soon perished, and was probably devoured by wild beasts."
What a picture is this! It is scarcely surpassed by the sad tale of "Old Prue" or even that of poor "Uncle Tom" himself. Yet such distressing circumstances are doubtless occurring throughout Africa daily and continually, and have been for a thousand years past. It' is not merely, as before shown, in connection with the Atlantic slave-trade, carried "on by the whites, that such things take place, but also in the Great Desert slave-trade carried on by the Moors; and independently of both of these — they occur among the negroes themselves in the heart of the continent. It is, in fact, the Africans themselves who are the cause of their own sufferings. It is a great error to suppose that this distressing state of things originated with the whites, however much it may have been aggravated by them. Had there been no internal slavery and slave-trade, there could have been no external. Had the Africans not been long addicted, previously, to buying and selling each other, within their own continent, they would never have been found Willing, or could have been made willing, to sell their fellows, as they do, to the white traders upon the coast. Here is the true secret and explanation of the cause of Africa's suffering from the slave-trade and slavery, — namely, Africa's own state of moral degradation. ​In the following passage, which will conclude, for the present, our extracts from Park, there is a brief summary of the facts already stated in reference to the number and general condition of the slaves. He is speaking here particularly of the Mandingoes; but as shown from previous extracts, the same statements apply to Africa in general. The writer, after a description of the manners of the inhabitants, remarks:
"In the account which. I have thus given of the natives, the reader must bear in mind, that my observations apply chiefly to persons of free condition, who constitute, I suppose, not more than one-fourth part of the inhabitants at large; the other three-fourths are in a state of hopeless and hereditary slavery; and are employed in cultivating the land, in the care of cattle, and in servile offices of all kinds much in the same manner as the slaves in the West Indies. I was told, however, that the Mandingo master can neither deprive the slave of life, nor sell him to a stranger, without
wars, the trade had greatly declined, the negro King of Dahomey sent a special embassy, consisting of his brother and son, to Portugal, for the purpose of reviving the traffic, and of concluding a treaty with Portugal to that end. In truth, the touching pictures which hare been drawn by some of the English poets, of the white man landing at night, and kidnapping the poor African, — if not entire fictions, yet, at most, describe cases that most be mere exceptions. It is well known that without the active coöperation of the negroes themselves, the white trader could not procure a single cargo of slaves; and had not slavery and the slave-trade existed most extremely in Africa before, such an attempt on the part of the whites would probably never have been made or thought of. It should at the same time be remembered, that these facts afford no justification whatever to the unprincipled trader, who takes advantage of the low moral condition of the natives, to carry on the abominable trade in human beings: they are adduced simply to show the true cause of the existence of this lamentable state of things. ​first calling a palaver on his conduct, or in other words, bringing him to a public trial. But this degree of protection is extended only to the native or domestic slave. Captives taken in war, and those unfortunate victims who are condemned to slavery for crimes or insolvency, — and in short, all those unhappy people who are brought down from the interior countries for sale — have no security whatever, but may be treated and disposed of in all respects as the owner thinks proper."
Such is a view of the internal state and condition of Africa — as it is, and as, according to all accounts, it has been for ages, and from the earliest times. According to the representation of the traveler above quoted, -(and no one, perhaps, has had a better opportunity both for inquiry and observation), nearly or quite three-fourths of the inhabitants of Africa — so far as any exploration has been made — are held in a state of bondage, of absolute slavery and subjection to the remaining fourth. The population of Africa has been roughly estimated at from 120 to 160 millions: taking the mean between these two — 140 millions — we have, for three-fourths of this number, 105 millions; showing, thus, the existence of upwards of one hundred millions of slaves within the borders of that benighted continent. What an enormous number is this! How insignificant, in comparison, seem the numbers in the New World — the three millions in North America, and the two millions in Brazil! ​From the above extracts, too, we learn what is the condition of that vast multitude; that, while the "domestic slaves," or those born in the master's house, have some privileges, all the rest, the captives taken in war, all that are purchased, all who become slaves through crime or even through insolvency, are absolutely at the disposal of their masters, to be treated with any degree of severity to which the caprice of their masters may subject them. And under masters in such a state of barbarism, we may believe that they must often cruelly suffer, — as, indeed, the writer expressly states to be the case. He describes to us the condition of the slaves among the Moorish tribes — the females the sport of the ill temper of their mistresses — pounding the corn and dressing the victuals under the combined heats of the burning sun, the sand, and the fire; treated with less indulgence even than the beasts of burthen, — compelled to bring water a long distance for the supply of the very horses, I rather than "give the latter the trouble" of going to the wells to drink: "with all this," the writer remarks, "they are badly fed, and oftentimes cruelly treated: the condition of these poor captives is deplorably wretched." We have seen with what I barbarous disregard they are treated when dead; the body of the poor slave-boy dragged by a leg and arm, and thrown into a pit. Those who could treat with such insulting unconcern the remains of their dead slaves, we may be sure could not have been very tender to them while living. We have, too, an account of the pursuit of a fugitive slave, hunted in the usual manner, with man and horse ​— and the severe flogging he was subjected to, for the attempt to recover his liberty. We have, also, pictures of the internal slave-trade in Africa — its universal prevalence, and the distresses and sufferings with which it is accompanied. We behold the poor slaves, many of them women, yoked together by the neck, setting out on their terrible journey across the Great Desert, — the' skeletons of hundreds who have preceded them lying in their path. We see, too, the awful ravages‘ and desolations inflicted by the King of Bornou and other negro chiefs, to procure these slaves, setting peaceful villages on fire, putting to death the old and infirm, and carrying off the young into hopeless slavery. Again, we see others, taken prisoners in war, lying for years in. chains in prison, and then taken out to be sent up the Niger, to be-sold as slaves at the various towns along its banks; and the remainder, not thus sold, sent off on a painful march to the distant Western Coast. In a word, we find here a complete state of slavery, with all its usual concomitants, "regular slave-markets," negro slave merchants (slatees), bad treatment, semi-starvation, suffering in all forms. And withal, we have the painful thought that all this suffering is continually inflicted on such a vast number of human beings — probably upwards of one hundred millions — and that this course of things has been going on now for ages!
And where, now, is the remedy? In the ordinary course of things, none — none probable — none seemingly possible. Slavery under Europeans, or their descendants in the New World, slavery in Christian lands, ​must necessarily be a temporary thing: its abolition is a mere question of time. The light of Christian truth, shining steadily upon the mind, is ever gently yet powerfully exercising its influence on a people's heart, and appealing to their conscience, till at length entering, and bringing with it the fire of love, it will melt the human soul to pity, and dissolve all cruel bonds. So it has been doing in ages past, and so it will continue to do, till every yoke is broken, and all the oppressed go free. So it has been in Europe, and so it will yet be in America. But where the light of Christian truth is not spread abroad — where the law of Christian love is not known, but man is left to his natural darkness and selfishness — what hope, what prospect is there, for the slave? None — none. The chains will still clank on, and the iron of oppression enter into the soul, through summer and winter, through revolving years and rolling ages still. This is the condition of the continent of Africa. For ages and ages past have those enslaved millions been suffering, and crying to their fetiches and idol-gods in vain. Their chains could not be broken; for nothing but the lightning power of truth could do it, and that truth had not reached them. He alone who came to "bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house" — He alone could do it: but alas! He had not come to them, He was not known to them. The Divine Savior had, indeed, come into the world, — yet He or His coming had not been heard of by the benighted millions of Africa. No light of Gospel truth had penetrated to them. They seemed, indeed, to be quite ​out of the line of its course: it was crossing the world, like the sun, on a belt from east to west; but poor Africa was far to the southward, out of its way, and seemingly beyond the reach of its influence. Or, if its missionaries sought, in their benevolence, to get to them, they were stopped by the Great Desert on the North, by the deadly malaria on the West: the white man could not live in that atmosphere and under that tropical sun.
Was there no hope, then, for that dark continent? Must "Ethiopia ever stretch out her hands" in vain? Had God "forgotten to be gracious?" — had the good Savior of mankind forsaken so large a portion of His creatures? No! He had not forgotten or forsaken them. In His own time and in His own manner He was preparing deliverance for them. The means, too, were seemingly hard and strange — such as could not have been thought of, such as could hardly be believed, by man. Such is ever the manner of the Divine working: "His ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts." It is impossible that they should be; for He knows all, while man knows but an infinitesimal part: He beholds the universe at a glance, while man sees but the single thing just before his eyes. It is not till effects begin to show themselves, that man has an understanding of causes: it is not till results begin to appear, that man begins to have a dawning perception of God's great designs.
As Moses, of old, was in God's providence permitted to be taken away by the daughter of Pharaoh, that he might afterwards return to his people, ​reoplenished with "all the wisdom of the Egyptians;" — as the children of Israel were suffered to be held' long in bondage, far from the country of their fathers and the promised land, — that they might afterwards return thither, prepared to become instruments for restoring the true worship of Jehovah: — so have the thousands and tens of thousands of Africans been permitted, we may believe, to be taken away from their native land to the New World, — to the end that, in an after-time, they or their descendants might return, civilized and Christianized, prepared to become the favored instruments for introducing into that benighted continent the lights of civilization and of the Gospel, — breaking up at once the reign of idolatry and of slavery, and spreading far and wide the knowledge of the true God, and, with it, the true spirit of freedom. It was the only way in which that great end could be accomplished: and we can now see that it was the plan of profound and infinite Wisdom.
* ↑ Park's Travels in the Interior of Africa, chapters i, xxi.
* ↑ Park's Travels, chap. Another traveler, Bruce, bears striking and painful testimony in regard to the trade in children on the northeastern coast of Africa, in the neighborhood of Abyssinia. "This town (Dixan)," says he, "consists of Moors and Christians, and is very well peopled; yet the only trade of either is a very extraordinary one — that of selling children. The Christians bring such as they have stolen in Abyssinia to Dixan; and the Moors, receiving them there, carry them to a sure market at Masuah, whence they are sent to Arabia or India." He says, in another place, "About 500 of these unfortunate pe0p1e are annually exported from Masuah to Arabia; of whom 300 are pagans from the market at Gondar, the other 200 are Christian children kidnapped." — Sir Francis Head's Life of Bruce, chap. x., p. 201.
* ↑ Chap. XII.
* ↑ Chap. XVIII.
* ↑ Chap. VI.
* ↑ Chap. XV.
* ↑ Freeman's Plea for Africa, Conversation VI.
* ↑ Freeman's Plea for Africa, Conversation VI.
* ↑ Park's Travels in the Interior Of Africa, chap. xxv.
* ↑ See Uncle Tom's Cabin, chaps. xviii. xix.
* ↑ To show how distinctly the Africans themselves are the cause of their own enslavement, and of the existence and continuance of the slave-trade, may be mentioned the striking fact, that in 1796, when, in consequence of the French Revolution and the subsequent European
* ↑ Chap. II
* ↑ Dr. Livingston's African Travels, which have appeared since the above was written, show a somewhat better state of things in Southern Africa; but it appears, nevertheless, from that work, that slavery very generally exists, and that "a man" is a common article of barter.