XII.—How a cargo of slaves is landed in Cuba—Detection avoided—“Gratificaciones.” Clothes distributed—Vessel burnt or sent in as a coaster, or in distress—A[Pg xi] slave’s first glimpse of a Cuban plantation—Delight with food and dress—Oddity of beasts of burden and vehicles—A slave’s first interview with a negro postilion—the postilion’s sermon in favor of slavery—Dealings with the anchorites—How tobacco smoke blinds public functionaries—My popularity on the Rio Pongo—Ormond’s enmity to me 107 CHAP. XIII.—I become intimate with “Country princes” and receive their presents—Royal marriages—Insulting to refuse a proffered wife—I am pressed to wed a princess and my diplomacy to escape the sable noose—My partner agrees to marry the princess—The ceremonial of wooing and wedding in African high life—Coomba 110 CHAP. XIV.—Joseph, my partner, has to fly from Africa—How I save our property—My visit to the Bagers—their primitive mode of life—Habits—Honesty—I find my property unguarded and safe—My welcome in the village—Gift of a goat—Supper—Sleep—A narrow escape in the surf on the coast—the skill of Kroomen 118 CHAP. XV.—I study the institution of Slavery in Africa—Man becomes a “legal tender,” or the coin of Africa—Slave wars, how they are directly promoted by the peculiar adaptation of the trade of the great commercial nations—Slavery an immemorial institution in Africa—How and why it will always be retained—Who are made home slaves—Jockeys and brokers—Five sixths of Africa in domestic bondage 126 CHAP. XVI.—Caravan announced—Mami-de-Yong, from Footha-Yallon, uncle of Ahmah-de-Bellah—My ceremonious reception—My preparations for the chief—Coffee—his school and teaching—Narrative of his trip to Timbuctoo—Queer black-board map—prolix story teller—Timbuctoo and its trade—Slavery 129 CHAP. XVII.—I set forth on my journey to Timbo, to see the father of Ahmah-de-Bellah—My caravan and its mode of travel—My Mussulman passport—Forest roads—Arrive at Kya among the Mandingoes—My lodgings—Ibrahim Ali—Our supper and “bitters”—A scene of piety, love and liquor—Next morning’s headache—Ali-Ninpha begs leave to halt for a day—I manage our Fullah guide—My fever—Homœopathic dose of Islamism from the Koran—My cure—Afternoon 136 CHAP. XVIII.—A ride on horseback—Its exhilaration in the forest—Visit to the Devil’s Fountain—Tricks of an echo and sulphur water—Ibrahim and I discourse learnedly upon the ethics of fluids—My respect for national peculiarities—Our host’s liberality—Mandingo etiquette at the departure of a guest—A valuable gift from Ibrahim and its delicate bestowal—My offering in return—Tobacco and brandy 143 CHAP.