242 Preparations for the March. 
Besides the large stores in their “small coun¬ 
tries,” the middle-men have a multitude of re¬ 
tainers, who may at any moment be converted into 
capital. Yet “slave” is a term hardly applicable 
to such “ chattels,” who, as a rule, are free as their 
lords. They hold at their disposal all that the 
master possesses, except his wives; they sleep 
when they choose, they work when they like; 
they attend to their private affairs, and, if blamed 
or punished, they either run away, as at Zanzibar, 
to their own country, or they take sanctuary with 
some neighbouring Mfumo, who, despite the in¬ 
evitable feud, is bound by custom to protect them. 
Cold and hunger, the torments of the poor in 
Europe, are absolutely unknown to them, and 
their condition contrasts most favourably with the 
“ vassus ” and the “ servus ” of our feudal times. 
Their wives and children are their own: the master 
cannot claim the tyrannous marriage-rights of the 
baron ; no “ wedding-dish ” is carried up to the 
castle ; nor is the eldest born “ accounted the son 
of the serf's lord, for he perchance it was who 
begat him.” The brutality of slavery, I must 
repeat, is mainly the effect of civilization. “ I 
shall never forget," says Captain Boteler, “ the 
impatient tosses of the head and angry looks 
displayed by a—lady—when the subject was can¬ 
vassed. ‘ A negro, a paltry negro, ever under¬ 
stand or conform to the social tie of wedlock! 
