An authentic story from Zanzibar well illustrates the sort of
things which happen when a system of slavery is tolerated. An Arab named All Bin Abdulla, of Pemba, owned a slave called Muftah. This slave ran away, but was caught and restored to his master,—and this though Pemba is a British possession. The master, according to the Zanzibar Gazette, punished him "by having double irons welded on his flesh just near the ankles, the irons being connected by a bar with a clove-tree between the unfortunate man's legs. This con- fined him to that spot practically in one posture. To prolong his misery, and save him from a speedy death, a cocoa-nut was given to him morning and evening as food and drink, and thus chained, and thus starved, the miserable man con- tinued in that selfsame spot, exposed to all the inclemencies of weather and to the ravages of insect life, for seven months." Fortunately the case came to the knowledge of the authorities, who, though they allow slavery, do not of course permit cruelty of this kind, and the poor wretch was rescued. Every effort to remove the irons (which had quite eaten into the flesh) was futile, and they could only be removed by means of a specially constructed apparatus. Ultimately the master was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment, with sub- sequent deportation from Zanzibar and Pemba, and a fine of 5,000 Rs. That is of course most satisfactory, and shows that of which we never have had any doubt, that the authorities do their best to mitigate the worst horrors of slavery. But that is not enough. Slavery must be abolished in form and sub- stance. As long as there is a slave in a British possession the whole nation is disgraced.
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