Press Opinions on the ** Curse of Central Africa "—<r^«/^. 



peatedly, and within the past few months with special emphasis, 

 been brought against King Leopold and his agents. Capt. 

 Burrows spent six years in various parts of the Congo, princi- 

 pally in the regions near Stanley Falls, where, according to 

 Mr. Leigh, 'he fulfilled the very repugnant duties imposed 

 upon him by his official positions to the entire satisfaction of 

 the authorities,' and it must be set down to his credit that he 

 appears to have done whatever little he could in lessening the 

 evils that he could not prevent. The Balubas, ' a docile and 

 interesting people,' with whom he came in contact while he was 

 in charge of the Riba-Riba or Lokandu station, far beyond 

 Stanley Falls, seem to have been especially befriended by him. 

 ' About this time,' he tells us, ' large numbers of Baluba slaves 

 commenced to arrive at my post, frequently 300 in a batch. 

 These people had been captured by the commandant, and 

 carried off to work as slaves in the stations and on the planta- 

 tions of the State. Many died of hunger and exposure, and 

 quite a number, too sick to proceed, remained at the post. 

 Those whom I succeeded in curing continued at Lokandu 

 during the rest of my stay, and were employed on the 

 plantations and other work. By treating them kindly I gained 

 their confidence, and on moonlight nights they would sing for 

 me their native songs and dance the Baluba dances.' 



" His labours as a State slave-driver must certainly have 

 been irksome. He says : ' Nearly all the disputes among 

 the natives and the followers of the Arabs are caused by 

 mutual slave-stealing. ]Much of the time of the post com- 

 manders is devoted to these disputes, for no sooner does a 

 slave run away than his master sets off at top-speed from the 

 station to inform the white man. " ^Master, my slave has been 

 stolen I " he cries. " Send quick your soldiers to bring him 

 back ! " Half an hour is required for the interrogation of the 

 excited slave-owner, generally with the result that he admits 

 that the slave had run away, but that So-and-So is harbouring 

 the fugitive in his village. To the latter, therefore, a soldier is 

 sent, with instructions to bring to the post both the slave and 

 his protector. A court is then held, and if the claimant is 

 proved to be the runaway's owner, the man is forthwith handed 

 over. By an unwritten law, and under pretext of respecting 

 mosurs indigenes, the slave system is rigorously upheld by 

 the officials of Bula Matari.' Against two of his Belgian 

 associates Capt, Burrows brings charges that are especially 

 grave, and in the case of one they are supported by translation 

 from the/r^<r^i- verbal of the inquiry which he conducted early 

 in 1901. The allegations are that, in one instance, the culprit 

 handed over a native who was obnoxious to him to other 



21 



