[30] Post, Grundriss der ethnologischen Jurisprudenz, i. 366. Nieboer, op. cit. pp. 38, 432. Nicole, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 118 (Diakité-Sarracolese). Baskervilie, ibid. p. 194 (Waganda). Lang, ibid. p. 240 sqq. (Washambala).
[31] Lang, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 242.
[32] Post, Afrikanische Jurisprudenz, i. 102 sqq. Idem, Grundriss der ethnologischen Jurisprudenz, i. 377. Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 168. Pechuel-Loesche, ‘Aus dem Leben der Loango-Neger,’ in Globus, xxxii. 238.
[33] See also Post, Afrikanische Jurisprudenz, i. 102 sqq.; Munzinger, Ostafrikanische Studien, p. 309 (Beni Amer); Idem, Die Sitten und das Recht der Bogos, p. 43.
[34] Munzinger, Ostafrikanische Studien, p. 484.
[35] Dalton, Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, p. 51.
A slave among the lower races can thus by no means be described as a being destitute of all rights. As a rule, it seems, he is treated kindly, very commonly as an inferior member of the family.[36] Among the Aleuts a slave suffering want would bring dishonour upon his master.[37] The South American Mbayás, says Azara, “aiment extraordinairement tous leurs esclaves; jamais ils ne leur commandent d’un ton imperieux; jamais ils ne les reprimandent, ni ne les châtient, ni ne les vendent, quand même ce seraient des prisonniers de guerre…. Quel contraste avec le traitement que les européens font éprouver aux africains!”[38] In West Africa “the condition of slavery is not regarded as degrading, and a slave is not considered an inferior being.”[39] On the Gold Coast, with the exception of the unpleasant liability of being sent at any moment to serve his master in the other world, the lot of a slave is not generally one of hardship, but is on the whole far better than that of the agricultural labourer in England. The slave is generally considered a member of the family, and if native-born succeeds in some cases in default of an heir to the property of his master.[40] In the Yoruba country it was quite common for a slave to be named by his master in his last will to be the factor or general manager of the estate, and to be left to take care of the entire establishment.[41] Among the Kreis Kita, of the French Soudan, the master calls his domestic slaves his sons, and they call him their father; nay, the natural guardian of an heir who is not yet of age is not his mother, but the eldest domestic slave of the household.[42] Speaking of the natives in the region of Lake Nyassa, Mr. Macdonald remarks that most Africans like to see their slaves become rich; “Are they not,” they say, “our own children?”[43] Among the Wabondei, “if a man buys a slave, he calls his own children and says, ‘Behold your brother.’ The slave is treated as a son, and is neither beaten nor tied.”[44] In Madagascar the slaves “are kindly treated by their masters, they are considered as a kind of inferior members of the family to whom they belong, and many of the slaves have a practical freedom of action to which the free population are quite strangers.”[45] The slavery prevalent among the native races of the Malay Archipelago is generally mild. In Borneo, says Mr. Boyle, “we always found a difficulty in distinguishing the servile portion of a household from the freeborn population, and the honours and distinctions open to the latter class are likewise accessible to the former.”[46] The slave-debtors of the Dyaks are “just as happy in this state—living in their creditors’ houses and working on their farms—as if perfectly free, enjoying all the liberty of their masters.”[47] Among the Chittagong Hill tribes the debtor-slaves were treated as members of the creditor’s family, and were never exposed to harsh usage.[48] Among the Káfirs of the Hindu-Kush slaves are sometimes chosen among the annually elected magistracy, and Sir Scott Robertson knew of a case in which a master and his slave went through the ceremony of brotherhood together.[49]
[36] Ibid. pp. 51 (Manipuris), 58 (Garos). Lewin, Hill Tracts of Chittagong, p. 34 sq. Idem, Wild Races of South-Eastern India, p. 90 (Chittagong Hill tribes). Colquhoun, Amongst the Shans, p. 267. Mouhot, Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China, i. 250 (Stiêns). Riedel, De sluik- en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua, pp. 194 (Watubela Islanders), 293 (people of Tenimber and Timor-laut), 434 (people of Wetter). Earl, op. cit. p. 81 (Papuans of Dorey). New, Life, Wanderings, and Labours in Eastern Africa, p. 128 (Wanika). Chanler, Through Jungle and Desert, p. 404 (Eastern Africans). Baumann, Usambara, p. 141 (Wabondei). Felkin, in Proceed. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh, xiii. 746; Baskerville, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 194 (Waganda). Ibid. p. 43 (Banaka and Bapuku). Mademba, ibid. p. 84 (natives of the Sansanding States). Nicole, ibid. p. 118 (Diakité-Sarracolese). Lang, ibid. p. 242 (Washambala). Desoignies, ibid. p. 278 (Msalala). Kraft, ibid. p. 291 (Wapokomo). Reade, Savage Africa, p. 582. Rowley, Africa Unveiled, pp. 174, 176. Steinmetz, Ethnologische Studien zur ersten Entwicklung der Strafe, i. 313. Nieboer, op. cit. pp. 52, 78, 79, 81, 141–143, 305, 439, sq.
[37] Veniaminof, quoted by Petroff, loc. cit. p. 152.
[38] Azara, op. cit. ii. 110.