214 
RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND MAG ARIA. 
owners. When the time for cultivating the ground and sowing 
the seed comes on, the owner points out what he requires, and 
what is to be sown on it. The slave is then allowed to enclose a 
part for himself and family. The hours of labour, for his master, 
are from daylight till mid-day; the remainder of the day is em- 
ployed on his own, or in any other way he may think proper. 
At the time of harvest, when they cut and tie up the grain, 
each slave gets a bundle of the different sorts of grain, about a 
bushel of our measure, for himself. The grain on his own ground 
is entirely left for his own use, and he may dispose of it as he 
thinks proper. At the vacant seasons of the year he must attend 
to the calls of his master, whether to accompany him on a journey, 
or go to war, if so ordered. 
The children of a slave are also slaves, and when able are usually 
sent out to attend the goats and sheep, and, at a more advanced age, 
the bullocks and larger cattle ; they are soon afterwards taken home 
to the master’s house, to look after his horse or his domestic con- 
cerns, as long as they remain single. The domestic slaves are fed 
the same as the rest of the family, with whom they appear to be 
on an equality of footing. 
The children of slaves, whether dwelling in the house or on the 
farm, are never sold, unless their behaviour is such that, after re- 
peated punishment, they continue unmanageable, so that the master 
is compelled to part with them. The slaves that are sold are those 
taken from the enemy, or newly purchased, who, on trial, do not 
suit the purchaser. When a male or female slave dies unmarried, 
his property goes to the owner. The children of the slaves are 
sometimes educated with those of the owner, but this is not gene- 
rally the case. 
The male and female children of the better sort of the Fellatas 
are all taught to read and write Arabic, but are instructed sepa- 
rately. The male children of the great are generally sent to another 
