34 
SLAVES. 
1—3 Jan. 
slaves, as it would be rendered nugatory by the power which the 
master unfortunately has, of selling the husband and the wife sepa- 
rately. Since humanity has gone so far, much to the credit of civilized 
Europe, and of the English nation in particular, as to put an end to 
the cruel traffic, let it go but a step farther, and forbid the more cruel 
practice of tearing the poor helpless woman from the man she loves, 
from the father of her children, or from the children that yet require 
a mother's care. 
The offspring of a slave-woman, Whoever the father may be, are 
the property of her owner. These are often allowed to be the play- 
mates of the children of the family to which they belong ; and, as 
they grow older, they sometimes become their associates also ; a fact 
which shows how very far many inhabitants of this colony are from 
beino; cruel and unfeelino; slave-masters. 
Slaves are often bequeathed by their owner to his children, and 
constitute, not unfrequently, their whole patrimony. These, increas- 
ing in number, are let out on hire to different masters, and ultimately 
become a sufficient, and, in many instances, the only source of in- 
come. Sometimes a slave is permitted to hire himself ; that is, to 
work for whatever master he may choose, or to employ his time in 
any manner best suited to his inclination, provided he bring home 
every night, to his master or mistress, a certain stipulated sum of 
money. 
Every slave, or even Hottentot, who is found at a distance from 
home, without a j^asbrief, or passport, signed by his master or some 
responsible person, is liable to be taken into custody as a runaway 
or vagabond ; and this precaution alone is a powerful check to prevent 
a slave from absconding. Yet it seems hardly fair to place a free- 
man, as the Hottentot is said to be, under the same restraint; al- 
thouffh it must be confessed, that there are some circumstances in 
which its operation is very salutary. 
3rd. This morning, attended only by a good-natured Mozambique 
slave-boy, named Jak, I made an excursion on foot to a place called 
Paradise^ situate on the back of Table Mountain, or, rather, on the. 
eastern side of that range of mountains which runs from the Devil's 
