They Were All Slaves, And Were Proceeding To The Coast From The Interior, To Sell The Goods And Animals Under Their Charge.

One old woman had the misfortune to let a large calabash of palm oil fall from her head:

On arriving at the spot, they found a party of females, her companions in slavery, wringing their hands and crying. The affliction of the old woman was bitter indeed, as she dreaded the punishment which awaited her on her return to the house of her master. John Lander compassionated her distress, and gave her a large clasp knife, which would more than recompense her for the loss of the oil, on which the women wiped away their tears, and fell down on the dust before them, exhibiting countenances more gladsome and animated than could be conceived.

The mortality of children must be immense indeed here, for almost every woman they met with on the road, had one or more of those little wooden images, already mentioned. Wherever the mothers stopped to take refreshment, a small part of their food was invariably presented to the lips of these inanimate memorials. The daughters of civilization may boast of the refinement of their feelings, but under what circumstances did they ever exhibit a stronger instance of maternal affection than these rude, untutored mothers of interior Africa evinced to our travellers. The English mother will frequently deposit her child in the grave, and a few days afterwards will be seen joining in all the pleasures and vanities of the world.

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