340 THE BITER BIT. Chap. XVII. 



swims off a free light fish again. We do not envy the position 

 of the colonist in these Portuguese convict settlements. But 

 we do regret that our own countrymen of the Cape are 

 prevented, by an unwise policy, from carrying their free- 

 dom and love of fair play into the country which is, so far 

 as discovery goes, by right their own. And we may be 

 permitted to record our heartfelt sorrow, that Robert Moffat, 

 the son of the celebrated Missionary, was so soon cut off in 

 the midst of his days, and at the commencement of his noble 

 endeavours to carry lawful commerce into all the interior. 



It may be interesting to our Cape friends to know that, 

 notwithstanding their occasionally laudable growling about 

 the fickleness of Kaffir labourers, such labourers are much 

 better than slaves. The coal here, as we have mentioned, lies 

 quite exposed in cliff sections, in the sides of streams, which 

 could easily be made available for carriage by lighters. 

 A small vessel, exactly like the Ma-Robert, was sent out by 

 Don Pedro V. for the navigation of the Zambesi ; and orders 

 were forwarded to Tette to have a supply of coal ready for 

 her from the seam at which we had supplied our vessel. This 

 order was carried out by slaves ; and from information sup- 

 plied to us by the officer who superintended this easy mining 

 operation, we found that the mineral cost 11. per ton, or at 

 least twice as much as it does by free labour at the pit's 

 mouth in England. Indeed, it would have been more expen- 

 sive, if taken to the river's mouth, than coal brought by sea 

 round the Cape to India. The facts mentioned showed that 

 the chief expense incurred was in the food required by the 

 slaves. The wages allowed in the calculation to the masters 

 were very small. Coal from the mines at Tette, according 

 to the present system of labour, could not be delivered at 

 Ivongone much under 10?. per ton. The contrast is more 

 striking if we remember the great depth at which the coal 



