58 
THE EAST AFRICAN EXPEDITION. 
[NOV. 23, 1857. 
which means the water that grazes. When the tide rises they imagine that it 
is the sea coming into the land to graze ; and they say to each other they must 
be on the look out lest the sea should come in and eat them up. Now they 
say nothing at all about an immense sea in the middle of the country, so I 
imagine it cannot he so large as represented. But it seems to be a considerable 
collection of water notwithstanding. Captain Burton will, I hope, settle the 
matter. It is scarcely worth while to speculate now when he is on the spot, 
for one observation is worth a waggon load of speculations. With reference 
to these coast tribes a question comes before us now of some interest, and that 
is, the revival of a species of slave-trade by the French and Spaniards on the 
west coast. Some have stated that it is the normal state of the Africans to be 
stealing each other, and buying and selling each other. I can scarcely think 
so. There is as much truth in that as if it were stated that the normal state 
of English and Scotch banks was — to break. The people on the coast 
get guns and gunpowder, and where they find they can pay for these things 
by a foray upon the inhabitants in the interior, why they have a strong tempta- 
tion to go and make that foray. But it is by no means the normal state 
of the people in the interior. The only cause of war that ever I heard of, 
previous to the introduction of the slave-trade, was for cattle. They usually 
have some old feud, such as some of our forefathers had in Scotland ; they 
say, “ the cows that we now capture are just the calves of the calves of the 
cows that were lifted by the enemy’s tribe some twenty years before.” 
So again, they say, “ Why they have just been keeping them for us all this 
time, and we go to bring them back.” So that it is scarcely possible to know 
who are the original owners of the cattle. Some tribes have actually refrained 
from keeping cattle altogether, on account of the wars in which the practice 
involved them. They say that cattle bring war, we will not keep them: 
they do not talk of the slaves bringing war, because they have no slaves in the 
interior. As to going to the coast to give payment for captives, to be called 
emigrants, I believe the Africans would emigrate if they knew where they were 
going to, and that they would come back after a number of years with property, 
as the Coolies can return from the Mauritius. But who can convince them 
that when they go across the sea — a sea of which they know almost nothing 
— that there they will find men in whom they can have confidence, and who 
will be faithful to them ? It is impossible. You cannot produce that impression 
in the African mind. On that account, I say, it would be much better to go 
to Africa, where we have free labour on the spot, than be at all the bother of 
stealing them and carrying them to other countries. It may be said that we 
have fine colonies, that the West India Islands is a fine country, capable of pro- 
ducing any amount of sugar and other products that we need. But have the 
planters in the West Indies the money to pay for the labour? That is the 
important question. From what I hear — and I may not be well informed — the 
call for labour simply means a call for money. If, instead of supplying them 
with labour, for which they cannot pay, we supplied them with an Encumbered 
Estates Act, it might be beneficial to them. The small island of Mauritius 
has free labour, and it produces sugar equal to one- fourth the entire consump- 
tion of Great Britain. Now this small island is only 25 miles long. I think 
the most important part of the discoveries I was privileged to make is, that 
there is an immense extent of country where sugar and cotton might be cul- 
tivated. And, if people will only pay for labour, there they have it on the 
spot. You must not suppose that the African will work if you do not pay him 
for it. 
