TRAVELS IN EASTERN AFRICA.CHAPTER I.Governor-general of Mozambique Superseded for Slave-dealing, and Arrival of His Successor—Trick of Slave-dealers to cause an Early Misunderstanding between the New Governor-general and the British Consul—Polite Attentions of the New Governor-general—Decisive Measure adopted for the Suppression of the Slave-Trade—The Fort signalizes to a Slaver in the Offing—Seizure of the “Charles et Georges”—Arrival of H.M. Frigate “Castor,” and desertion by her of the British Consul—Combination of Slave-dealers to drive the British Consul from the Port.
Governor-general of Mozambique Superseded for Slave-dealing, and Arrival of His Successor—Trick of Slave-dealers to cause an Early Misunderstanding between the New Governor-general and the British Consul—Polite Attentions of the New Governor-general—Decisive Measure adopted for the Suppression of the Slave-Trade—The Fort signalizes to a Slaver in the Offing—Seizure of the “Charles et Georges”—Arrival of H.M. Frigate “Castor,” and desertion by her of the British Consul—Combination of Slave-dealers to drive the British Consul from the Port.
On the afternoon of the 22nd September, 1857, the city of Mozambique was in a great state of excitement, for in the offing was the frigate “Don Ferdinand,” having on board the new Governor-general, sent by the government of Portugal tosupersede Vasco Guedes de Carvalho e Menezes, for carrying on the slave-trade in the province of Mozambique.
Slowly the old frigate threaded her way into the harbour, and took up a berth, opposite the town, between Fort San Sebastian and the Palace of the Governor-general.
On the next day invitations were issued for the principal personages at Mozambique to attend the ceremony of the installation of the new Governor-general, on the following Saturday, the 29th, at eleven o’clock.
An invitation was sent to the British consul as a matter of course, but it was for Saturday the 30th, at half-past eleven o’clock. The object of wording his invitation in this manner was that it was hoped he would attend on the 30th instead of on the 29th, by which he would be “a day after the fair,” and by this means a misunderstanding might be at once created between the new Governor-general and the British consul. The consul found that he was evidently asked for the wrong day, but hoping that this might be a mistake, he proceeded to the palace ata few minutes before half-past eleven, as invited.
On his arrival, he found that the ceremony of presentation to his Excellency was almost finished; and, while elbowing his way through the reception-rooms of the palace, crowded with brilliant uniforms, the Jesuit secretary of Vasco Guedes met him, and informed him that he “regretted exceedingly that the British consul had arrived too late to be presented to the new Governor-general.” The British consul quietly replied by pulling the letter of invitation out of his pocket, and pointing out that by reading it in one way, he was just five minutes and a quarter before the time invited; and reading it another way, he was at the palace twenty-four hours, five minutes, and one quarter before the hour indicated in the letter. The secretary smiled, apologized, wished to explain, and, in fact, do anything to cause delay until the presentation was over. But the British consul at once requested him to present him to the new Governor-general; when this nephew of a cardinal positively declined, alleging, as an excuse, that it was too late. Hereupon the British consul produced his commission,and, politely bowing to the cardinal’s nephew, reminded him that the Exequatur of the King of Portugal, &c., gave access at all times to the Governor-general of Mozambique. The secretary smiled, showing all his white teeth, and bowed low in acknowledgment of his defeat. The consul passed on, and at last, just before the ceremony was over, reached the astonished Vasco Guedes, to whom, after paying the usual compliments of the day, he preferred a request that he would at once present him to his successor, Colonel Almeida, who was standing on his left hand.
The new Governor-general shook hands with the British consul, and requested him to take his proper place, on his left hand, and then inquired if he had brought over with him, from the mainland, a machilla, for the purpose of attending the ceremony, which was to take place in the principal church. A machilla, I ought to explain, is a sort of cot, or swinging sofa, with an awning over it, in which persons are carried by four slaves, bearing on their shoulders the large bamboo pole to which it is attached.
Finding that the British consul had no machilla with him, and would, consequently, have to walk in the sun, Colonel Almeida asked Vasco Guedes if a machilla could not be procured for the consul; to which the latter replying in the negative, his Excellency called a young aide-de-camp, a nephew of the Sa de Bandeira, and asked him to procure a machilla; but this the polite young aide-de-camp found impossible, for every one had made up his mind to make the British consul walk.
The ceremony being ended, and no machilla making its appearance for my use, the new Governor-general said, “Now, gentlemen, we will repair to the church; but, as Mozambique cannot provide a machilla for the use of the British consul, we must all accompany that gentleman on foot.”
I have been particular in mentioning the above, to show the animosity of the slave-dealers towards myself; and how it was at once perceived by the new Governor-general.
On the way to the church, Colonel Almeida insisted that I should take my place with himselfand Vasco Guedes, under the large purple velvet umbrella, which, on state occasions, is held over the Governor-general of the province.
After the religious ceremony in the church was over, I was requested to repair to the palace, with the officers of H.M.S.V. “Geyser,” who were present at the ceremony, and there to await the return of the procession from Fort San Sebastian, to which the new Governor-general had to repair for the purpose of receiving the keys of the fort.
On his Excellency’s return, we were again presented, and congratulated him on his taking possession of the government of the province. In the evening there was a ball, where all the “beauty and fashion” of Mozambique attended.
On the following Monday I called the attention of the new Governor-general to some serious charges preferred by me against the Governor of Ibo, in being openly engaged in the slave-trade.
Vasco Guedes had told me that he could not supersede the Governor of Ibo for these practices,as he was appointed directly by the King, but Colonel Almeida made short work of it, by appointing another governor to Ibo, and requesting me to obtain a passage for him in H.M.S.V. “Geyser.”
This request I was not able to comply with, as an urgent order had arrived from the Cape of Good Hope, recalling the “Geyser.” At that time I had only just heard of the Indian mutiny. I expected that Sir George Grey would send every regiment and vessel on to India, and that he would be anxiously looking out for the “Geyser.” Although I saw hot work for the new Governor-general and myself, I hurried the “Geyser” to the Cape, where, I hoped, she would be useful to my country.
On the arrival of the new Governor at Ibo, he found a vessel under French colours lying there waiting for slaves, which his predecessor was about to supply. This vessel, called the “Marie et Caroline,” the new Governor, Lieutenant J. Romeiro, sent down to Mozambique; and there being a French Delegate on board, who stated that she had sailed fromRéunion for the purpose of embarking free labourers from the east coast of Africa, he was informed by the Governor-general of Mozambique that this traffic in human beings was forbidden, and had to enter into a bond that he would not endeavour to carry on this species of slave-trade within the precincts of the province of Mozambique. The “Marie et Caroline” was then released; and another vessel, named the “Maria Stella,” under the French flag, being sent down from Ibo to Mozambique, was treated in the same manner.
The new Governor-general had thus shown himself determined to put an end to the slave-trade, and to carry out faithfully the treaties entered into by Portugal and Great Britain, for the suppression of the slave-trade in these seas.
In the middle of November I had received intelligence that slaves were to be shipped close to Mozambique, and had communicated this fact to the Governor-general, during an interview which I had with his Excellency.
On the evenings of the 17th, 18th, and 19thof November, I observed from my house that signals were being made from Cabaçeira Point, by means of fires, to some sail in the offing. On the last of those evenings the Fort San Sebastian was communicating with the vessel in the offing by means of lights; and I afterwards found that for these three days a large three-masted vessel was in sight from the fort. The commandant of the fort, an old colonel of artillery, I knew to be a notorious slave-dealer, and when he was telegraphing to the vessel in the offing I felt convinced that the rumour which I had heard relative to slaves being about to be shipped in the neighbourhood of the fort was but too true.
On the following day I received an intimation in writing from the city of Mozambique that a three-masted vessel was lying in Conducia Bay, shipping slaves; and having, on the 21st November, satisfied myself that two refractory slaves belonging to my neighbour, Brigadier Candido de Costa Soares, had been shipped on board a slaver in Conducia Bay, I no longer hesitated to address the Governor-general on thesubject, simply writing to his Excellency “that I had received intelligence that a three-masted vessel was at anchor in Conducia Bay; and that there was reason to suppose that she was shipping a cargo of slaves.”
Now, this vessel was the celebrated “Charles et Georges,” and she was visible from the fort during the whole time that she was at anchor in Conducia Bay. Slaves were taken from the city of Mozambique, and put on board of her, and everyone in Mozambique was aware what trade she was engaged in.
No one moved in the matter until I addressed an official intimation to the Governor-general, and it is quite certain that if there had been no British consul at Mozambique she would never have been seized.
As soon as the Governor-general received my despatch, he sent a force overland, past my house, to Conducia Bay; and one of theobligingmerchants of Mozambique offered his Excellency the use of the “Enigma” schooner to take the troops to Conducia Bay to seize the slaver. The troops embarked on board the “Enigma” at oneo’clock in the afternoon, and that vessel did not raise her anchor until five in the evening. She dropped her anchor again in about an hour’s time, and remained in harbour until the next morning.
When the “Enigma” reached Conducia Bay, the slaver was gone; of course she was warned off, and the “Enigma” had been offered simply to detain the soldiers until the slaver escaped.
The Governor-general refitted the “Zambesi” schooner, already well known to the reader, and she was sent to sea in three days’ time.
The “Charles et Georges” had shipped some portion of her slaves, and as she left four thousand dollars on shore with the Portuguese official, the Sheik at Matabane, for the purchase of more slaves, it was natural that she should return.
Accordingly, while cruising off the coast, the “Zambesi” observed a strange three-masted vessel at anchor in Conducia Bay, and, bearing down on the stranger, boarded her on the 29th of November.
She was conveyed to Mozambique, and handed over to the judge, who condemned her, as hefound that there were four thousand dollars on board of her, the handling of which he would of course have.
A small French war schooner was sent from Réunion to demand her restoration. The judge immediately represented that the slave barque “Charles et Georges” was improperly condemned, and advised the Governor-general to restore her.
The reason for the head of the law reconsidering his decision was that he was told he might retain the four thousand dollars found on board the “Charles et Georges,” and that one thousand more would be added if the vessel was restored.
The Governor-general was not to be trifled with in this manner, and decided that, as the judge had condemned her, he would send the “Charles et Georges” to Lisbon.
So far so good. The slave-trade was being effectually suppressed, as the British consul urged the Governor-general of Mozambique to do his duty. But another actor appeared on the scene, and soon altered the position of H.M. Consul at Mozambique.
On the 3rd of December H.M. frigate “Castor” called at Mozambique. The captain of that vessel, Henry Lyster, Esq., was quite astonished at the energy and determination displayed by the Governor-general of Mozambique, acting under the advice of the British consul. The day after his arrival he called upon the latter functionary, and remained with him about ten minutes.
In this short space of time H.M. Consul informed Captain Lyster, R.N., that on the night the “Charles et Georges” anchored in Mozambique harbour, the slaves belonging to the slave-dealers stoned the band of the Governor-general, while playing before the palace, and that he was obliged to flog a number of the slaves of the town, to prevent a repetition of this offence; that the slave-dealers, baffled in their attack on the Governor-general, twice attacked the consul’s house, through the medium of their slaves, whom they sent to stone the consul in his house; that he was served with a notice to quit the house he was then residing in, and that there was not one in the town which he could get to live in; that some short time previous, having gone to look at a housein the country, which he was told was to let, he was attacked by infuriated natives, who had been urged to this act by the slave-dealers, and that he escaped with his party by having been shown a road which led him from the natives to his own house.
He further showed Captain Henry Lyster, R.N., that he was without servants—all the slaves, with the exception of a child, which would not leave, having been taken from the house. He claimed his protection, and also asked him for a small boat by which he could communicate with the Governor-general.
To which Captain Lyster replied that he must immediately return to the Cape of Good Hope, and apprize the admiral of the serious state of affairs at Mozambique; and requested the consul to close his despatches, as his departure was immediate. He promised to send over in the evening for the consul’s despatches, if they did not reach him; and hurried out of the consul’s house, stating that he had to make arrangements for watering the ship at once.
The next morning at daylight, the “Castor” was observed, under her topsails, standing out tosea. It was imagined that H.M. frigate had gone in chase of some strange sail in the offing, but as day passed after day, the fearful and humiliating truth dawned on the inmates of the British consulate, that they had been abandoned to their fate.
The captain of H.M. frigate “Castor” left Mozambique without the consul’s despatches, either for the admiral at the Cape, or the British government. On the arrival of the “Castor” in England, Captain Lyster, R.N., was made superintendent of a naval dock-yard. Comment is needless, but sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
Soon after the desertion of the British consul and the Governor-general of Mozambique by H.M. frigate “Castor,” a marked change took place in the conduct of the Governor-general of Mozambique; for he anticipated that the British government would not support Portugal in the struggle which he saw that weak power would have with France. Those who have studied this subject may pronounce their own opinion, but one thing is certain, that to the base desertion of the British consul at that critical period may be traced the subsequentinsolence of the slave-dealers, the increase of the slave-trade, and the sufferings of H.M. Consul and family.
As long as Vasco Guedes remained at Mozambique, the slave-trade party felt that they had nothing to fear; but now that Colonel Almeida had arrived, and had published the Portarias of the King of Portugal, forbidding the French Free Labour Emigration, and his own declaration that it was his determination to persecute that traffic wherever he might find it in the province of Mozambique, the slave-dealers found that the British Consul and the Governor-general united were too much for them; they therefore determined to do all in their power to drive the former out of the colony, believing that afterwards they would be able to do as they pleased with the new Governor-general.
Three days after the sailing of H.M.S.V. “Geyser,” by which vessel Mr. Soares believed I had sent an application to England to have him appointed H.M. Vice-Consul at Mozambique, (but which I did not forward in consequence of learning to what extent he was engaged in the slave-trade,and by his own admission to me that he had been the principal person in establishing the French Free Labour Scheme at Mozambique):—Mr. Soares sent me a written intimation that he would require both his houses, the one on the island in twenty-four hours, and that on the mainland in a month or forty days. Until I received this intimation, I had not the slightest knowledge of anything of this sort which was going on, and, indeed, looked forward daily to getting into the house on the island.
I immediately called Mr. Soares to an account for treating me in this manner. His reply was, “They say, Mr. M’Leod, that I give you all the information about the slave-trade, and that I must leave the place, or that you must.” I asked him whotheywere, but he would not answer my question.
He told me that his father said that he must put me out of his house, to clear himself of the charge that had been brought against him by the Mozambique people. I asked him to tell me—if I was so foolish as to give up to him a house which I had taken for twelve months—where I could findanother house vacant? He told me that there was not one in Mozambique; and that, if there was, the people had determined among themselves not to let me even have a room for an office, much less a house to live in.
I reminded him that he was differently treated at the Cape of Good Hope; he begged me, with tears in his eyes, not again to allude to what he could never forget; and stated that what he was doing he was compelled to do, and that if he left Mozambique it would be much worse for me.
Finding that he was quite insensible to reason, I gave him to understand that since, under numerous pretexts, he had prevented my taking absolute possession of that portion of the house on the island which was let to me, and that he was now in possession of it, why, I must submit to be deprived of it; but that, with regard to the house on the mainland, I intended to remain in it until the time agreed upon was completed, or until such time as I obtained another house. He got into a great rage, and told me that “he would remove all the slaves, and that I would be unable to live in the house then.” To which I replied “that then hewould break his agreement with me.” This caused him to answer that he “did not care what he did to get me out of the house, for that his father said I must leave the place.”
From that day the slaves were gradually removed, until there was only one little child, called Azinte, left, who refused to leave.
Azinte was about eight years of age; she was a melancholy child, with intelligence far above her years. Her face was good, and there was a sweet resigned smile upon it, which interested the commonest observer.
She came especially under my wife’s notice in the following manner:—
The grown up slaves, while employed at their work, left one of the little ones always to watch their meal while it was cooking, and to keep a good fire under the pot.
On one of these occasions Azinte was left guardian; and, whether it was the pangs of hunger, or the curiosity inherent to her sex, and inherited from our common mother, Eve, which urged her, I know not, but she uncovered the pot to look at its contents, and, like many children of anolder growth and a fairer skin, the temptation was too much for her, and she was caught in the act of helping herself to the old folks’ dinner. To the Mozambique negro mercy is never shown; and therefore, in the hour of his might, we cannot expect him to be merciful. Nay, cruelty for successive ages has made him cruel. Azinte’s little hand was seized by a powerful grasp, and held upon the burning faggots.
For three days and three nights she endured excruciating torments. Rosa, my wife’s maid, inquiring for her little favourite, found her hid away in an outhouse, neglected by all her companions, who would not even take her a drink of water. Rosa took the suffering child to her mistress. The little hand was in a frightful state; but by careful dressing and constant attention it was saved. The little Azinte was ever afterwards kept in the house. She would never point out the monster who had seared her hand. The little negress was very grateful, and loved my wife dearly. Many attempts were made to steal the child from us, but she escaped them all. At last, the hour of parting came; I asked Mr. Soares togive the child her freedom. He told me to buy it, and to name my own price. He would have sold me the child for one shilling; but not even to liberate could I buy a slave. Poor Azinte, you were sacrificed to a stern sense of duty. Here was a little being humanized, if not civilized; those who had raised her to that state had no control over her. She was a chattel belonging to a Portuguese of Mozambique descent, and was to be used as such. We often think what may be her fate!
When the slaves were removed from Mr. Soares’ house, in the hope of driving us away, I used every endeavour to hire some from persons in the city of Mozambique. A German merchant would have procured me the services of some, but as he could not hold slaves more than myself, he was dependent on the will of the Mozambique people, who hired their slaves to him on the express condition that he would not lend them to the British consul. On all sides, I was now beset with offers of slaves, cheap slaves to sell.
In this dilemma, I applied to the Governor-general for the loan of government slaves. Atfirst he said he would, of course, give me what I required; but afterwards, he stated that he found it was impossible to supply me with a crew for my boat, or even one government slave.
Anticipating that things might come to this, when the Mozambique people found that what I did on my arrival to suppress the slave-trade, I continued during my sojourn among them, I had written to a Parsee house at Bombay to send me a suitable number of servants. Since my arrival in England, I have received a letter from the Parsee merchant, containing the envelope of my letter from Mozambique, to show me by the post-mark the date of its arrival at Bombay, and to prove that my order not being executed was no fault of his. The simple fact is that my letter was detained at Mozambique.
Being without any assistance in the house, if I except a sick Portuguese soldier, who used to oblige us occasionally by attending on table, I was obliged to face the work manfully. The Portuguese refused to light the fire, alleging that it was negroes’ work, and so the British consul had to do it. For months, I drew water from thewell and cut up the fire-wood. The Portuguese said his arms were not strong enough to draw water from the well, and that cutting up fire-wood made his back ache; so, of course, this necessary work devolved upon me.
But there were some things I could not do—for example, cook our meals; this devolved on my wife and Rosa. Those who have a fancy to know what this was like must get some mangrove-wood, the arsenical fumes from which, after suffocating and blinding them, will render them unfit to eat anything for that day. Hard-earned was the morsel that was cooked for dinner; but the day came when we had no wood and no food, and God, in his mercy, sent our countrymen, who were the survivors of the crew of the unfortunate “Herald,” to save us.
At Mozambique, no one would wash our clothes; and for months this necessary work was performed by my wife and poor weak Rosa, with no assistance but the little Azinte, who, poor child, learned in the course of time to lay the clothes upon the grass. This necessary labour had to be performed by two delicate Englishwomen, with the thermometerranging from 80° to 96° in the shade, and yet they are both alive at this moment.
All this had to be endured; we were in the hands of the Philistines, and we had to do battle with them; ours was the battle of patient endurance.
The Portuguese wished to degrade us in the eyes of the negroes; to show them what an inferior race the English were; that they could not keep one slave, whilst the Portuguese had hundreds.
After the severe toil of the day, we were all glad when night came, and thankful that health and strength were granted to us.
Such was the state of affairs in my house, when my German friend offered me a passage in one of the vessels belonging to his firm, which was then in port, and proceeding to Zanzibar.
Although resolved to remain at Mozambique, and maintain my post, despite all persecution, I reasoned with myself on the sinfulness of sacrificing the lives of two other persons, and, therefore, determined to avail myself of this opportunity of sending my wifeand her maid to Zanzibar, to await my arrival there; as, in that case, I would have been able to find accommodation for myself on board some vessel or dhow in the harbour, until such time as the hour of deliverance arrived, by the presence of one of Her Majesty’s ships.
On proposing to my wife a visit to Zanzibar, her countenance revealed with what joy she hailed any change from that continued toil under which herself and her maid were rapidly failing. But, instantly divining that it was my intention to remain at Mozambique, and maintain my post, while she and her maid were expected to proceed to Zanzibar, with her eyes suffused with tears, she claimed, and successfully pleaded, her wife’s privilege to share her husband’s trials.
Soon afterwards my wife sent for her maid, and told her that there was a passage provided for her to Zanzibar, where arrangements would be made for her conveyance to the Cape of Good Hope, where her mother lived. But that noble girl, Rosa Smith, refused to desert her mistress; and, when this offer was again made to her, after the desertion of H.M.frigate “Castor,” she adhered to the same resolution.
From that evening, during our stay at Mozambique, in all our sufferings and privations, with sickness, hunger, and even death in my house, I never heard a murmur. Both these Englishwomen felt that they were called upon to perform a sacred duty. They suffered in a holy cause—that of the slave—and HE who “tempereth the wind to the shorn lamb” gave them strength to endure.
The following is an account of an act of brutality towards a domestic slave which came under my own eye, and the particulars of which I extract from my journal at Mozambique:—
“On Monday, the 15th of March, 1858, at 8.30A.M., we were greatly distressed by screams, which proceeded from some fellow-being in the compound of the next house, the wall of which was about thirty yards distant from our own. Mrs. M’Leod was at the time slowly recovering from the effects of the fever, and the treatment she had received from Dr. Fonseca, and it may be easier imagined than described, what a seriouseffect this affair had on her system. The screams proceeding from that house were, on this occasion, more alarming than those that were heard from time to time, daily, when the female overseer was employed in punishing the slaves under her control. At last, they became so alarming that we came to the conclusion that the slaves had risen upon Portuguese Rosa, the overseer, and having succeeded in getting her into one of the outhouses, they were employed in avenging themselves for the gross and continued wrongs which they had suffered at her hands.
“Believing that this was the case, and urged by the entreaties of my wife and her maid to endeavour to save the woman from the fury of the negroes, I repaired to Mr. Soares’ house, in the court-yard of which the following revolting scene met my view:—
“Portuguese Rosa was lying on a native bed, or sofa, which was placed with its head about three feet from the doorway of an outhouse, in which cocoa-nuts were stored until required for the use of the house.
“This Portuguese woman was reclining at full length on the sofa, her chin supported by her hand, and contemplating, with evident pleasure, the disgusting scene of barbarity which was being enacted inside of the cocoa-nut house. A negro, one of the finest specimens of man I have ever looked upon, and one that an artist would have wished for a model of Apollo, was lashed up to a ladder by his hands and legs; two negroes were castigating him on his posteriors; two spare ones were waiting to relieve them, and one old negro stood by, who appeared to be a doctor, witnessing how much the sufferer could bear without being killed. The poor creature’s posteriors and thighs were covered with blood, and a pool of blood was around his feet. There lay the Portuguese woman, calmly enjoying this scene of blood, occasionally instructing the actors where to strike, when a cry of more thrilling anguish would testify to her refinement in torment.
“Anxious to put an end to this revolting scene, I asked—nay, I begged—this fiend in woman’s form to pardon and release the man.
“Instantly her dark eye was lighted up with the frenzy of intense hatred, and, turning to me, she said, ‘For anything with a white skin, I would pardon—but for you,thou champion of the slave!—never!’ Then turning to the executioners, she yelled, ‘Flog, sons of hell, flog! or else I’ll pour the boiling oil upon you.’ This drew my attention to a neighbouring fire, on which stood a pot, which, I afterwards learned, contained boiling oil. To have remained longer would have only added to the sufferings of the slave. This was a case of domestic slavery, in which, of course, I could not interfere. A late Portaria of the King of Portugal declares that this slavery shall cease in twenty years time; that is to say, continues it for that period. Subsequently, I heard that this slave was punished for disobedience of orders. Inquiring further into the matter, I learned that this noble black had refused to castigate his own mother. Women of England, and mothers of Portugal, hear me; and when you hear, speak—so that Don Pedro the Fifth, of Portugal, shall cause slavery to cease in his Africandominions, and leave to his dynasty a name, the memory of which shall awaken prouder associations than those even of the Era of Conquest.”
A few days after witnessing the frightful atrocity just related, I had a letter sent to me from the master of the cruel Portuguese woman, and the owner of the godlike manly form, with a black skin, whose ignominious tortures I had witnessed, in which I was called a spy, and sundry other equally complimentary epithets, for having unfortunately witnessed a scene revolting to humanity, when I imagined I was bound on an errand of mercy, in an endeavour to save the life of a fellow-being. Of this I took no notice; but, from that moment, I felt convinced that my neighbours’ slaves were more rigorously dealt with than even before. With a refinement of devilment, during the remainder of my stay at Mozambique, the Sabbath of the Lord was set aside specially for the punishment of Mr. Soares’ negroes; and, as that Portuguese gentleman knew that the Consul of Protestant England performed the service of the Churchof England, every Sunday, at eleven o’clock in the forenoon, that hour was chosen for the commencement of these harrowing tortures, which were continued until oneP.M., when he imagined that the prayers of the heretic were ended. Where those cries of anguish ascended to the throne of the Omnipotent, the song of praise will, assuredly, be heard at no distant period.
The Portuguese, entirely devoted to slavery, have neglected the natives in religion, as in all other matters; and as the Makuas have not imbibed Mahometan principles from the Moors or Arabs, who do not here attempt any proselytism, there is an admirable opening at Mozambique for Protestant missionaries; butMoloch, in the shape of the slave-trade, must first be done away with, when a noble field for missionary labour will be laid open.
As a further example of the cruelty which Portuguese women perpetrate on their slaves, the following barbarity was related to me as having been inflicted in the city of Mozambique:—
A Mozambique lady, having been clearlyconvicted of some delinquency, by the evidence of one of her female slaves, adopted this method of punishment, which,—even among those who are in the habit of burning their slaves with red hot iron, pulling out the nails of the fingers and toes for punishment, and otherwise perpetrating, in that remote region, the horrors of the Inquisition—is spoken of with disgust. The unhappy girl was seized and firmly secured; an egg was boiled, and, on being removed from the pot, was forcibly placed in the mouth of the wretched slave. A sail-needle was then driven as a skewer through both lips, when the girl was released, and the lady owner viewed her torments. This she-devil, not yet satisfied with the punishment inflicted on her fellow-being, ordered the slave-girl to be struck on both cheeks until the egg was broken, and the scalding contents went down her throat.
The slave-trade thrives only in the African dominions of the King of Portugal; and the late Portaria of that monarch at once places His Majesty foremost among the advocates of slavery. Until slavery is entirely abolished inthe African dominions of Don Pedro the Fifth, the slave-trade will flourish, while outraged humanity and the suffering Africans exclaim to that potentate, “Thou art the man!”