The slavery of today, or, The present position of the open sore of Africa

Front matter

1cs.A.Swe.n.

Division

Section

Preface

'^HE information herein given will be found to be additional and complementary to nearly all that has been previously written on the subject.

Very little reference has been made to the conditions under which the natives work on the plantations, for, if the methods of recruiting are wrong, nothing is right.

There is also very little reference to International Laws, Conventions, &c., for, even if these did not exist, all liberty-loving men and women, whether English, American, Portuguese, or of any other nationality, and especially Christian men and women, should rise up and say that slavery, no matter by what name it is called, must be put down at any cost.

What I have written is absolutely without feeling of any kind against the Portuguese, as such, for among them I have some of my staunchest friends, and the proof of this is that my present principal occupation is to give them the light of the glorious truth of the Gospel, which has done so very much for all the great Protestant nations of the world.

X.

PREFACE

My conviction is that if the Portuguese nation could be convinced of the fact that slavery, pure and simple, exists in any of her Colonies, the people, led on by the brave and devoted men now in the front of the political fight for freedom — such as is enjoyed by the foremost nations of the world — would, without the interference of any outside Power, rise up and demand justice for the down-trodden black man, wherever he is crushed and bartered like an article of commerce in her oversea possessions.

Let it be remembered that the Portuguese do not look upon the black as a social pest, as people do in some parts of the world, for there are many educated Africans mixing in good Portuguese society, and inter-marriages are not at all uncommon.

Information of the contents of this book has been laid before the British Government in the hope that they will take definite steps to induce the Portuguese Government to see that its laws are truly carried out in its Colonies.

I have not incorporated anything relating to my early extended experiences of the slave trade, for I wish that the evidence presented to the public should be of as recent date as possible.

CHARLES A. SWAN.

82 Eltham Road, Lee,

London, S.E.

Index

Points of Inquiry

“ Modern Slavery ”

Anti-British Feeling Effects of Living on Coast

Unsolicited Testimony

First Servifal Spoken To Slaves from Nearer Coast Slaves Brought by By-Paths

Notes Made on Journey

Native Attempts to Sell His Sister Slavery and Polygamy ...

Redeeming Slaves

Slaves Addressed to Coast Firms Effects of Illegitimate Traffic

A Chequered History

Slave Woman’s Sad Story Abuse of Power by Official Natives’ Dread of Authorities ...

How Natives have to “ Redeem ” Unsuccessful Attempt to Escape Affection Among Natives...

Slaves for Life !

A Gang of Slaves

Suffering for Relatives’ Crimes ! Rum and Base Injustice ...

Recapture of Liberated Slaves ...

Child for Is. 4d

Disgusting Treatment of a Woman rAGK

INDEX

PAOB xii.

An Escape from Slavery 106

Difficult to Protect Falsely-Contracted Slaves ... 109

A Boy-Slave's Troubles 110

Woman and Child for Two Small Bags of Corn ... 113

Difficulty of Retaining Freedom even when Granted 113

A Child for a Waterproof Coat ! 119

17 Slaves, 2 Oxen, 1 Pig, and 3 Loads for 1 Woman 121

Sold by His Own Father 124

Powder for Slaves 125

Shameful Cruelty to a Woman-Slave 127

An Unfortunate Father Redeems His Son 132

Hung by Feet and Whipped 135

Death Preferred to Slavery 147

My Camera Divines ! 149

Slaves on Steamers, and their Statements ... ... 152

Cruel Treatment of a Girl 157

Adulterer Demands Two Slaves ! ... ... ... 160

Nine Slaves Protected 161

Not An Uncommon Sight 165

Once a “ Contracted ” Labourer always a Labourer ... 166

Slaves on Steamers Again 169

Testimony from the Interior 172

300 Slaves in One Caravan 176

Mortality of Slaves on Journey 178

No Diminution of the Trade ... ... ... ... 181

White Traders Ousting Native Dealers 182

Rebel Soldiers as Slave Dealers 184

Credit System Conducive to Slavery 187

Another Shameful System of Supply 190

“ We must have Slaves — get us Slaves ! ” 194

Conclusions 197

The Crux of the Question 198

A Remedy Suggested 201

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAOB

Dead slave wfith shackles for hands and feet Frontispiece Two slaves being sent to a firm at Catumbella Do. Skulls and bleached bones — a common sight on slave

routes 20

Slave woman with shackle, and man in charge ... 28

Slaves with shackles on the way to the coast 28

Shackles — 92 were picked up in one day 40

Slave who had his hands burnt and was turned adrift

as useless 40

Slave woman rescued from her inhuman brother ... 48

Complicated case of slave-dealing 48

Native woman who was humbled by those who ought

to have been her protectors 48

Slave who escaped, but whose wife was sold 48

The only three left out of fifty liberated slaves ... 64

Boy slave, and man who bought him for 1/4 64

A gang of slaves from the interior 64

Ukuahamba — a sad tale of superstition and slavery ... 80

Nanjila — bound to a decomposing body 80

Sepumuma, bought for a keg of rum and some cloth ... 80

Musole and child, sold for two small bags of corn ... 80

Happy mother and child who escaped from slave dealer 96 Liberated slaves who run great risks of being recaptured 96 A

XIV.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Ndiana, slave girl who was frequently hung up by the page feet and whipped 112

Boy slave redeemed by an Englishman for £2 ... 112

Slave boy and his disfigured father who fell into the fire 112 Baby thrown into bush to die by runaway slaves ... 128 Chitengi, rescued by the Missionaries ... ... ... 128 Adalia, given as a pledge to a trader by her husband ... 128

Slaves working in fields at Bih4 132

Slave boy and his price by his side 132

Mutombo, felled with a stool by his white master and

cast out to die 140

Two slaves dragged from Missionary’s side into captivity 140 Ngusu, slave boy with mark of master’s cruelty on

his head 140

A group of slaves, male and female 144

Man who is taking a mother and child to sell ... ... 144

Slave route from Ondulu country to Novo Redondo ... 144

Woman slaves on s.s. “ Ambaca,” bound for San Thome 160 Embarking slaves at Novo Redondo — climbing up

ship’s ladder 160

Slaves disembarking off San Thom4 176

Slaves on steamer, looking toward San Thome ... 176

Men slaves on board s.s. “Ambaca,” bound for San

Island of San Thome as viewed from the sea ... ... 192