DOGS. 



215 



ourable status of peres et meres de families. 

 The great object is to breed from them as soon 

 as possible, and the Creoles thrive far better 

 than even the acclimatized strangers. Arabs 

 have been known to pay §50 for a good foreign 

 watch- dog, hoping thus to escape the nightly 

 depredations of the half-starved slaves. They 

 are kind masters, great contrasts to the brutally 

 cruel Negro, whose approximation to the lower 

 animals causes him to tyrannize over them. On 

 the West Coast of Africa the black chiefs often 

 offer considerable sums for English dogs ; but 

 none save the lowest £ palm-oil rough ' would 

 condemn the 6 friend of man ' to this life of vile 

 African slavery. It is really pathetic to meet 

 one of these unfortunate exiles in the interior, 

 where a white face is rarely seen : the frantic 

 display of joy, and the evident horror at being 

 left behind, have more than once made me a 

 dog-stealer. 



At Zanzibar, as upon the Continent, fowls 

 may be bought in every village, the rate being 

 G to 12 for the dollar, which a few years ago pro- 

 cured 36. They are lean, for want of proper 

 food ; ill flavoured, from pecking fish ; and miser- 

 ably small, the result of breeding in — the eggs 

 are like those of pigeons. Yet they might be 



