The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-01-17

| Nevertheless. negro of the neighboring
| village commanded his wife, who was also
his slave. to go there and pick up wood to
cook the supper She set out. but she had
no sooner entered the fields than she began
| to sink, and in short time she had sunk UP
| to her arms without being able to extricate
| herself or even to move lest she should sink
deeper and perish. Her plaintiye voice call
ed for help; but those who passed by only
laughed at her. As she did not come back
her husband went TO look for her, taking
with him a stick with which he doubtless
meant to kill her. He found her in this pitt
full condition, and without doing anything to
help her he threw her his stick from dis
lance that she might defend herself, as he
said with cruel irony, against the hyenas
that were coming In the night; he then went
composedly home. The next day all trace of
the woman was gone"
"Let us mount the steps of the ladder: one
OF our Fathers narrate, with horror, that a
prince of Bukumbi said to him one morning,
IN the coolest way. imaginable, and without
seeming 70 think IL extraordinary, Last
night killed five Of my wives
I'VE come now TO the most powerful. This
Is what have to tell myself about the King
OF Uganda In the letter from which have
the preceding extracts: REV.. Father Le-
yesque, former missionary Of Uganda. that
once, when he was at the Court of King
Mteca, while he was awaiting his audience in
the outer enclosure, the doors of the brazah,
or royal hall, were suddenly thrown open,
with loud noise to let pass two armed SOL
diers, who were dragging by the feet poor
female slave. The king had condemned her
to have ears. nose, and lastly her head cut
off immediately, because she had spoken too
loud before the opening Of the audience.
Inc sentence was carried out on the spot In
the presence OF the crowd. The cries of the
unhappy woman went to the heart of the
missionaries; but they excited from the
ter. "1e"
You will see how far these horrors are
confirmed by the the testimony Of an eve.
witness, the explorer Spoke, in the case of
the Negro court Of Uganda, where a thous-
and or twelve hundred women are victims To
every caprice of the tyrant.
FOR some time,' he writes In his Sources
OF the Nile, L have lived within the enclos
ure OF the royal palace. and consequently the
customs OF the court are no longer a dead
letter to me In spite of that shall | be be-
lieyed when | declare that since l changed
quarters not day has passed without my
seeingone, two, or even three of these un-
happy women wn0 made up Mteca's harsm
led to deaths Drawn or dragged along. with
cord around their wrists, by the body
guard. which leads them to the slaughter
house, the poor creatures, with eyes full of
tears, utter cries that break your heart:
Hal Mindugei (Ohl Ny Lord j Kbrkki my
King j Hdi N'yduisi [Oh my Mother!l In
spite OF these piteous appeals to public pity
not a hand is lifted to save them from the ex-
VttthVbtlos thuuEn uCiC anu tucIt Out utdTS
remark made in low voice on the beauty
of the Victims
"By means of persuasion the Missionaries
may, perhaps, convert few isolated and pet
ty nations but they are too few to make the
action felt in the vast extent of the African
interior. In the meantime the destruction
goes on so fast that everything will have dis
appeared.
81 say the same thing Ia the matter of
charity and the ransoming of slaves. Some
npre0pe hQvq gunOacfad this from q
of generous charity in order to save at least
some victims from their sad fate. God forbid
that should turn aside Christians from
sentiment so In harmony with their law
Charity is its first precept Yet, on one hand
how shall we find sums large enough to ran
som so many slaves. and, on the other, would
not this very ransoming be an encouragement
to the cupidity of the slave-traders? If the
ransom is made sure the slave-hunt will find
a new reason for spreading. 5H
II say again 1t Is force that is needed, a
pacific force, certainly, and intended only for
defence, but an armed force"