Wandermgs in Eastern Africa. 
" God has so ordained it." Nothing could be more 
abject ; and it is this that some people would call 
contentment with their lot. Slavery crushes the soul 
out of a man, turns him into a speechless, uncom- 
plaining brute ; and they who have caused it cry, 
Behold the useful and happy being we have evolved 
out of that independent, discontented, turbulent 
creature called man ! " while others of us can see 
nothing but a miserable wreck of all that was in- 
tended to be noble. 
Slaves, it may be admitted, are not so hard driven 
in East Africa as they were, say, in America ; simply 
because there is less pressure in the one case than in 
the other. In Africa life is so simple, the require- 
ments of it are so meagre, and the value of labour is so 
small, that there is no need for that severe straining 
of nerve and sinew which the requirements of western 
civilization render imperative. So also it may be 
confessed that slaves are often treated with humanity, 
upon the same principle that many men treat their 
horses kindly; they are mo7iey^ and, moreover, mackiiteSy 
which it is necessary to keep in pretty good repair 
that they may do the work required of them. 
Nevertheless, there is a strong case to be made out 
against African slavery ; its effects upon master and 
slave, upon the country and commerce, being emi- 
nently injurious. 
The first thing that slavery does against its victim 
is to rob him of his manhood, and it is this fact that 
works all the mischief Slavery assumes a pro- 
prietorship which is the prerogative of the Divine 
Being alone; and that is practical atheism. Surely 
this is crime enough. Slavery violates all the most 
