“Now, Ferajji, you are a head man, tell me what cause of complaint in particular you have. Did the white men ill-treat you?”
“No, they treated me well; but they were hard on some of the men.”
“How hard, and on whom?”
“On the Zanzibaris, and if they were not chap-a-chap (active).”
“But what did they wish to be chap-a-chap for? Had you important work to do?”
“No, for when the steamer went away there was little to do. Only fixing the earth work, sweep camp, cut fuel, and stand guard at night. But the goee-goees (lazy or useless) would not come when called. Then the white men got impatient, and would call again louder. Then the goee-goees would come slowly—lazily—little by little, and say they had pains in the head, or in the body, back, chest, or feet. Then the masters would get angry, and say it was shamming. Every day it was the same thing.”
“But how could sweeping camp, getting fuel, and standing guard be hard work for 250 people?”
“It was no work at all.”
“Was anybody else punished except the goee goees?”
“No one except the thieves.”