Held in Bondage. 
WHEN I first landed in West Africa, I had to 
alter my ideas about many things. For exam- 
ple, I had always believed that where the Union Jack 
floated every man was free, but I discovered that in 
one British Protectorate, at any rate, slavery pre- 
vailed. It gave me a shock, I can tell you. Vm not 
sure I have got quite over it yet. In all fairness, I 
ought to add that the British authorities have done 
a good deal towards scotching it. They have 
stopped any further trading (buying and selling) in 
slaves. And to do that much, they had to wage 
war against the Aros— -a people that lived on the 
profits of the slave traffic. They have also changed 
some of the harsh conditions of slavery. But when 
all is said and done, slavery remains a horrible 
thing. The only way to really improve it, is to 
improve it out of existence. Until you get away 
from the sea-coast, right into the bush, and live 
amongst the people, as one of themselves, you can- 
not form a true idea of the wretchedness and cruelty 
slavery inflicts. There are some things I know 
that I simply dare not put into print; not because 
I fear the consequences, but they are too horrible 
for decent folks to read. I stood one day on the 
beach at Jamestown looking out across the big 
water. I liked to do this, now and again, as it 
gave me the chance to see British steamers passing 
up to Calabar, and made me feel not quite so lonely 
and shut in. On this particular occasion there 
was no steamer in sight; simply a number of 
