Slaves become free when redeemed or when their master grants them liberty. Persons that have been long in slavery may be redeemed by relatives. Some say that a slave may redeem himself by presenting to his master another slave whom he may have bought or captured in war. Other native authorities, especially the older men, deny this most strongly, and no doubt correctly, as everything that a slave can possess belongs really to his master. But the older views are now being modified by contact with English Missionaries. Before the arrival of the missions, slaves could obtain nothing except from their master himself, who supplied them with clothing; when the missions came they had an opportunity of working for pay. When a slave earns wages, his owner may no doubt claim the whole of it, but some masters among the Yao are said not to exercise this right to the full extent. They allow the slave to retain a great part of his earnings, so much so that he will occasionally remark, “Ah! my master is poor to-day, I must give him some cloth”. Such masters look with satisfaction on the increasing hoards of their slaves in the same way as an English employer delights to see his labourer in a condition of comfort. They will even boast of the rich slaves that they possess. Every owner of property finds slavery the most profitable investment. One of the slave’s duties is to procure other slaves (_i.e._, more property) for his master. Each male slave is allowed to build a house for himself. He may also get a wife (59) who, however, may be taken from him again. He is politely called his master’s “child” (mwanache), the more offensive word “slave” (mkapolo) being seldom used. Still the time, the talents, and the very lives of slaves are entirely in their master’s hand. However great a ransom they may offer, if the master refuse to take it, no one in the country can legally set them free. The master’s power is absolute. The only check that he feels is this,—he says, “If I treat my slaves badly, one day they will find me alone, take courage (mbilimo) and kill me”. But a slave would think twice before adopting such a desperate measure. If he murdered a freeman he would run as fast as Moses ran to Midian, and with as good reason. 78. KILLING SLAVES OR WARDS.