In the afternoon I again
inspected them. Having asked the officer whether any of the negresses
would wish to be married, he replied that all the women wished to marry,
and that they had already selected their husbands!
This was wholesale matrimony, that required a church as large as
Westminster Abbey, and a whole company of clergy!
Fortunately, matters are briefly arrranged in Africa. I saw the loving
couples standing hand in hand. Some of the girls were pretty, and my
black troops had shown good taste in their selection. Unfortunately,
however, for the Egyptian regiment, the black ladies had a strong
antipathy to brown men, and the suitors were all refused. This was a
very awkward affair. The ladies having received their freedom, at once
asserted "woman's rights."
I was obliged to limit the matrimonial engagements, and those who were
for a time condemned to single blessedness were placed in charge of
certain officers to perform the cooking for the troops and other
domestic work. I divided the boys into classes; some I gave to the
English workmen to be instructed in carpenter's and blacksmith's work;
others were apprenticed to tailors, shoemakers, &c., in the regiment,
while the best looking were selected as domestic servants. A nice little
girl, of about three years old, without parents, was taken care of by my
wife.
When slaves are liberated in large numbers there is always a difficulty
in providing for them. We feel this dilemma when our cruisers capture
Arab dhows on the east coast of Africa, and our government becomes
responsible for an influx of foundlings. It is generally quite
impossible to return them to their own homes, therefore all that can be
done is to instruct them in some useful work by which they can earn
their livelihood. If the boys have their choice, they invariably desire
a military life; and I believe it is the best school for any young
savage, as he is at once placed under strict discipline, which teaches
him habits of order and obedience. The girls, like those of other
countries, prefer marriage to regular domestic work; nevertheless, if
kindly treated, with a due amount of authority, they make fair servants
for any rough employment.
When female children are about five years old they are most esteemed by
the slave-dealers, as they can be more easily taught, and they grow up
with an attachment to their possessors, and in fact become members of
the family.
Little Mostoora, the child taken by my wife, was an exceedingly clever
specimen of her race, and although she was certainly not more than three
years old, she was quicker than most children of double her age. With an
ugly little face, she bad a beautifully shaped figure, and possessed a
power of muscle that I have never seen in a white child of that age.
