Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1861-01-18
The Negro in Africa.

1u0 negro IN Africa.
Capt. Burton, whose travels in Eastern
Africa have recently been published in
this country, gives a fearful account of the
condition of the African in his native land.
Among the coast tribes OF Eastern Africa,
Capt Burton fell in with the Wamrma
and the Wasawahili The name of the
last of these, according to Arab etymolo-
gy, may be translated ssartful dodgers"
'sSnpersubtle and systematic liars,'' saws
Capt. Burton, ''they deceive when duller
men would tell the truth. The lie direct
is no insult, and the offensive word apuo1e-
go Qiar) enters largely into every dialogue.
They lie objectlessly, needlessly, when
sure of speedy detection, when fact would
be mo-e profitable than falsehood, till
their fc ion becomes suhjectively fact
With them the lie is no mental eXertion,
no exercise of ingenuity, no concealment,
nor mere perversion of the truth; it is APP
parently local, instructive popularity in
the. complicated madness OF poor human
nature. The most solemn and religious
oaths are, with them, empty words; they
breathe an atmosphere Of falsehood,
maneuvre and contrivance, wasting up
on the mere notlings oflife-a pound of
grain or a yard Of clotIl-ingenuity Of in
iqnity enough to win and keep a crown
And they ale treacherous false. With
them the salt has no Specification, aud
gratitude is unknown even by name"
The Wanrima, though partially Arab
lied, are little better.
s'The uncle sells his nephews and nieces
by an indefeasible vested right, with
which even the parents cannot interfere.
The voice of society even Justities this
abomination."
Farther in the interior are the Wazara
mo. The head men among them are poly
gamists on a grand scale, ,and are surround
ed by their slave gangs. The crime OF
''black magic is punished among them
with death, and every few miles the cal
cined bones of the victims meet the trav
eler's eye. Twin children are usually
sold or exposed in the jungle. A child
who cuts the two upper incisers before the
lower, is either put to death Or sold to the
slave merchant. The head men, 'swith
the aid of slavery and black magic, render
their subjects lives as precarious as they
we'll can no one, especially in o,d age,
is safe from being burned at days no
tice." GA man has vested right in his
sisters children, and when he dies, his
brothers and relations carefully plunder
his widow and orphans"
Pursuing his journey still further into
the interior, Capt. Burton was struck by
the contrast between the beauty of the
scenery and the misery and ferocity of its
inhabitants.
"Can it be-" he asks ''that by some in
expllcable law, where nature has done her
best tor the happiness of mankind, man,
doomed to misery, must work out his own
happiness!" "The Umkondokwa noun
tains, once garden, have become field
and foray; cruelty and violence have bru-
tal;zed the souls of the inhabitants, and
they have learned to wreak their ven
geance on all weaker than themselves"
The picture Of the Unyamwezi is dark
indeed. Their cruelties are exquisitely
barbarous. AS to the WIFI, they care
lakish brethren, to drunkness, and when
drunk, auarrelsome and violent"
The Warundl virtually prohibit the ap-
proach Of all exploration by their "black
mail'' system ofplunder.
cat Murivamba,' on the borders of the
great lake, which was the terminus of
Capt. Burton's travels we are told that
"the ma.afia, the mosquitoes, the croco-
diles and the man are equally feared
The land belongs to the Wabenbs, who
are correctly described in the Mombar
mission map as anthropophagi (maneat-
ers.) The praetice arises from the savage
and apathetic nature OF the people, who
devonr, besides man all kinds of caa7,io,e
and 0ermsaa grabs and insects, while they
abandon to wild growths a land of tie
richest soskaaed Of the aaost prolific climate.
They prefer man raw, weereas the Wadoc
of the coast eat him roasted. The people
of a village which backed tho port, Assem-
bled as usual, to sow cape seed, but
though.
"A hungry look hung upon them ALL
and, among canibals, one always fancies
ones self considered in the light of butch
ers's meat, the poor devils, dark and stint
ed, tinid and degraded, appeared less dan