Of all the offences (if
insolvency may be so called) to which the laws of Africa have
affixed the punishment of slavery, this is the most common.
A negro
trader commonly contracts debts on some mercantile speculation,
either from his neighbours, to purchase such articles as will sell
to advantage in a distant market, or from the European traders on
the coast - payment to be made in a given time. In both cases the
situation of the adventurer is exactly the same. If he succeeds, he
may secure an independency: if he is unsuccessful, his person and
services are at the disposal of another; for in Africa, not only the
effects of the insolvent, but even the insolvent himself, is sold to
satisfy the lawful demands of his creditors. {9}
The fourth cause above enumerated is, THE COMMISSION OF CRIMES ON
WHICH THE LAWS OF THE COUNTRY AFFIX SLAVERY AS A PUNISHMENT. In
Africa the only offences of this class are murder, adultery, and
witchcraft, and I am happy to say that they did not appear to me to
be common. In cases of murder, I was informed that the nearest
relation of the deceased had it in his power, after conviction,
either to kill the offender with his own hand or sell him into
slavery. When adultery occurs, it is generally left to the option
of the person injured either to sell the culprit or accept such a
ransom for him as he may think equivalent to the injury he has
sustained.
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