ciiAP. .XIII. A SLAVE'S PROrOSAL. 373 



glad to hire him when I had anything to do. The next 

 morning he came to say that his master was willing to 

 sell him, and also to entreat me to buy him, and expressing 

 great regret when I told him I could not gi'atify his wishes. 

 I knew that I could not take him away with me, and was 

 not certain that, had I purchased his liberty, he would not 

 have been enslaved again after my departure. Compared 

 with slavery as it existed formerly in our colonies, the yoke 

 on Malagasy slaves sits easy ; yet it is a bitter and a soul- 

 depressing lot. I was often impressed with the indifference 

 manifested by the slave to many things that to others are 

 objects of eager desire and evident satisfaction. \\Tien I 

 have offered some present, as a piece of cloth, in return for 

 some service rendered, or even a piece of money, the slave 

 has scarcely cared to accept it; and when I have expressed 

 my surprise at such indifference, I have been told by some 

 around me, "It is of no use giving anything to him. If it is 

 a present, his master will take it when he returns home ; if it 

 is money, he must give it to his master." Nothing is his but 

 what he eats and drinks. Hence, access to the kitchen 

 seemed to be the best reward a slave could receive. 



