United States or Saint Pierre and Miquelon ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Then follow the two grand divisions of free-men and slaves; of the former, the slatees, so frequently mentioned in the preceding pages, are considered as the principal; but, in all classes, great respect is paid to the authority of aged men. The charges of the government are defrayed by occasional tributes from the people, and by duties on goods transported across the country.
He was collecting a coffle of slaves, with a view to sell them to the Europeans on the Gambia, as soon as the rains should be over. I found him sitting in his baloon surrounded by several Slatees, who proposed to join the coffle. He was reading to them from an Arabic book; and inquired, with a smile, if I understood it?
In this situation, the schoolmaster, with two of the principal Slatees, having taken their places between the two parties, pronounced a long and solemn prayer; after which, they walked three times round the coffle, making an impression on the ground with the ends of their spears, and muttering something by way of charm.
A deeply rooted idea that the Whites purchase Negroes for the purpose of devouring them, or of selling them to others, that they may be devoured hereafter, naturally makes the slaves contemplate a journey towards the Coast with great terror; insomuch that the Slatees are forced to keep them constantly in irons, and watch them very closely to prevent their escape.
Laidley, who, by a long residence in the country, and constant intercourse with the natives, had made himself completely master of it. Next to the language, my great object was to collect information concerning the countries I intended to visit. On this occasion I was referred to certain traders called Slatees.
Every person, says Mr, Park, opened his provision bag, and brought a handful or two of meal to the place where Karfa and the slatees were sitting.
A small quantity of gold is likewise employed by the slatees in defraying the expenses of their journeys to and from the coast, but by far the greater proportion is annually carried away by the Moors in exchange for salt and other merchandise.
To these disadvantages, it is to be added, that the Slatees, who purchase slaves in the interior countries, and carry them down to the Coast for sale, constantly prefer such as have been in that condition of life from their infancy, well knowing that these have been accustomed to hunger and fatigue, and are better able to sustain the hardships of a long and painful journey, than free men; and on their reaching the Coast, if no opportunity offers of selling them to advantage, they can easily be made to maintain themselves by their labour; neither are they so apt to attempt making their escape, as those who have once tasted the blessings of freedom.
In the meantime, many of the slatees who resided at Kamalia, having spent all their money, and become in a great measure dependent upon Karfa's hospitality, beheld me with an eye of envy, and invented many ridiculous and trifling stories to lessen me in Karfa's esteem; and in the beginning of December, a Sera-Woolli slatee, with five slaves, arrived from Sego.
The schoolmaster, with two of the principal slatees, having taken their places between the two parties, pronounced a solemn prayer, after which they walked three times round the coffle, making impressions in the ground with the ends of their spears, and muttering something by way of a charm.
Word Of The Day