Chap. II. CASE OF VOLUNTARY SLAVERY. 49 



mere chance of acquiring a freedom, which would probably 

 be forfeited on his entrance into the first native village, for 

 the Chief might, without compunction, again sell him into 

 slavery. 



A rather singular case of voluntary slavery came to our 

 knowledge : a free black, an intelligent active young fellow, 

 called Chibanti, who had been our pilot on the river, told us 

 that he had sold fiiuiself into slavery. On asking why he had 

 done this, he replied that he was all alone in the world, had 

 neither father nor mother, nor any one else to give him 

 water when sick, or food when hungry; so he sold himself 

 to Major Sicard, a notoriously kind master, whose slaves 

 had little to do, and plenty to eat. "And how much 

 did you get for yourself?" we asked. "Three thirty-yard 

 pieces of cotton cloth," he replied ; " and I forthwith bought 

 a man, a woman, and child, who cost me two of the pieces, 

 and I had one piece left." This, at all events, showed a 

 cool and calculating spirit ; he afterwards bought more 

 slaves, and in two years owned a sufficient number to man 

 one of the large canoes. His master subsequently em- 

 ployed him in carrying ivory to Quillimane, and gave 

 him cloth to hue mariners for the voyage ; he took 

 his own slaves, of course, and thus drove a thriving 

 business ; and was fully convinced that he had made a good 

 speculation by the sale of himself, for had he been sick 

 his master must have supported him. Occasionally some 

 of the free blacks become slaves voluntarily by going through 

 the simple but significant ceremony of breaking a spear in 

 the presence of their future master. A Portuguese officer, 

 since dead, persuaded one of the Makololo to remain in 

 Tette, instead of returning to his own country, and tried 

 also to induce him to break a spear before him, and thus 



E 



