1887.] . Stay m Garenganze. 
213 
Msidi. I have no suspicion of his friendship ; he most carefully 
avoids asking anything of me, and all his family do the same. 
Matters have been settled between Bihe and this country, and 
the "road" is virtually open again. Msidi's two sons have not 
returned yet, but they were awaiting the arrival of goods from the 
coast, and will come shortly. Two large caravans have arrived for 
trade, bringing no letters, nor any news for me, except that the 
American missionaries are re-established in Bihe. I suppose they 
did not know of the departure of these two caravans. I am 
expecting a large budget when it does come. My last home-letter 
dates are all in 1885. 
THE FATE OF SLAVE CHILDREN. 
Yesterday I had another child brought to me. The poor thing 
belonged to a blacksmith here, who some time ago sold its 
mother for corn to the king's executioner. The corn was not 
enough to cover the price of the child, so he kept it out of the 
bargain. The fact was, the "hangman" did not wish a slave 
with a baby on her back, so would not buy the child, though an 
extra basket of corn would have sufficed. The blacksmith, who 
has no wife, found he could do nothing with this baby, and 
instead of knocking it on the head, as the custom here is — for 
who would buy so young a thing ? — he sent it to me, asking me 
to give a goat for him. I could not help myself in the matter, so 
sent a young goat in exchange. Poor little boy (we will call him 
Willie), he had been deceived, for they said they were taking 
him to his mother, and he cried long and bitterly, ''^ N'twala ko 
mamd^^ ("Take me to mother"). In Luba the word for mother 
is exactly like our "mama," the a's being very broad and 
emphatic. He is a plump, healthy little chap, with a fine-shaped 
head, awfully afraid of me as yet. I shan't give him up to his 
mother where she now is, but I will do so if I can redeem her. 
The question of these children harasses me a good deal, and 
often I don't know what to do. Were I to take all, I might have 
a second ^'Miss Anstey's Home""^' in a few months. Little 
children here have really no market value, and a woman burdened 
with a child is a less desirable article of purchase than one with 
* An orphan home in Kolar, India, where Miss Anstey received hundreds 
of orphans during the famine of 1877, before any Government provision was 
made for them. 
