They Likewise Draw The
Gold Into Wire, And Form It Into A Variety Of Ornaments, Some Of Which
Are Executed With A Great Deal Of Taste And Ingenuity.
Such is the chief information I obtained concerning the present state of
arts and manufactures in those regions of Africa which I explored in my
journey.
I might add, though it is scarce worthy observation, that in
Bambarra and Kaarta, the natives make very beautiful baskets, hats, and
other articles, both for use and ornament, from rushes, which they stain
of different colours; and they contrive also to cover their calabashes
with interwoven cane, dyed in the same manner.
In all the laborious occupations above described, the master and his
slaves work together, without any distinction of superiority. Hired
servants, by which I mean persons of free condition, voluntarily working
for pay, are unknown in Africa; and this observation naturally leads me
to consider the condition of the slaves, and the various means by which
they are reduced to so miserable a state of servitude. This unfortunate
class are found, I believe, in all parts of this extensive country, and
constitute a considerable branch of commerce with the states on the
Mediterranean, as well as with the nations of Europe.
CHAPTER XXII.
_Observations concerning the state and sources of slavery in Africa._
A state of subordination, 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, 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 Negro 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 slaves in Africa, I suppose, are 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 dishonourable to violate. Thus, the domestic slaves, or
such as are born in a man's own house, are treated with more lenity than
those which are purchased with money. The authority of the master over
the domestic slave, as I have elsewhere observed, extends only to
reasonable correction; for the master cannot sell his domestic, without
having first brought him to a public trial, before the chief men of the
place.[20] 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 from the 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 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 are by
far 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 over 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 number 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.
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 free men; and on their reaching the Coast, if no
opportunity offers of selling them to advantage, they can easily be made
to maintain themselves by their labour; neither are they so apt to
attempt making their escape, as those who have once tasted the blessings
of freedom.
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