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oppression continued unbroken from the lop to the bottom. It is 

 I believe a true observation, that no masters are more tyrannical 

 than those who have been slaves themselves; few servants in a f\ee 

 country prefer living with a master or mistress who had themselves 

 been in a slate of servitude. Among the oppressions complained 

 of by Nehemiah, under the government of Artaxerxes, he says 

 that not only the governors but even their servants bare rule over 

 the people, and made cruel exactions. Thus it is at this day 

 throughout India; it extends from the savage punishment which 

 I mentioned to have been inflicted on a man of high rank by the 

 prince of Scindy, down to the village palell, who does not ac- 

 quiesce in the payment of the sum extorted from him by the op- 

 pressive zemindars. 



As to slavery literally so called, in Asia it is of various kinds. 

 The female slaves brought to the Indian courts from Georgia and 

 Circassia, are in very high estimation. I have seen some of these 

 reputed beauties, and others from Armenia or the northern parts 

 of Persia : they were generally fair, with dark eyes and clear com- 

 plexions ; in youth possessing that rich style of beauty so much 

 admired in Persian and Arabian tales. The male slaves generally 

 preferred by the Persians and Moguls in India are brought from 

 Abyssinia and the eastern coast of Africa. 



In the northern provinces it is not so common to have slaves in 

 Hindoo families as in the Mysore and Malabar dominions; there 

 they are very much employed, especially in cultivation. I believe 

 most of the tribes of Pooleahs and Pariars in Malabar are consi- 

 dered as slaves. Dr. Buchanan observes, that in Malayala, in the 

 south of Malabar, the usual price of a young man and his wife is 



