The Discovery of the Source of the Nile by John Hanning Speke
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page 19 of 672 (02%)
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probability would commence life afresh by taking service as a
porter with other merchants, and in the end would raise sufficient capital to commence trading himself-- first in slaves, because they are the most easily got, and then in ivory. All his accumulations would then go to the Zanzibar market, or else to slavers looking out off the coast. Slavery begets slavery. To catch slaves is the first thought of every chief in the interior; hence fights and slavery impoverish the land, and that is the reason both why Africa does not improve, and why we find men of all tribes and tongues on the coast. The ethnologist need only go to Zanzibar to become acquainted with all the different tribes to the centre of the continent on that side, or to Congo to find the other half south of the equator there. Some few freed slaves take service in vessels, of which they are especially fond; but most return to Africa to trade in slaves and ivory. All slaves learn the coast language, called at Zanzibar Kisuahili; and therefore the traveller, if judicious in his selections, could find there interpreters to carry him throughout the eastern half of South Africa. To the north of the equator the system of language entirely changes. Laziness is inherent in these men, for which reason, although extremely powerful, they will not work unless compelled to do so. Having no God, in the Christian sense of the term, to fear or worship, they have no love for truth, honour, or honesty. Controlled by no government, nor yet by home ties, they have no reason to think of or look to the future. Any venture attracts them when hard-up for food; and the more roving it is, the better they like it. The life of the sailor is most particularly |
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