The chief is supposed to be the owner of all the land, but in strictness he cannot alienate it without the consent of the tribe. It seems, however, as if, apart from European or Arab influence, the idea of permanent property in land scarcely existed. No one is supposed to own land except so long as he actually cultivates it; and, owing to the method of agriculture, it is abandoned every few years. Any member of the tribe can make a fresh garden where he likes, provided no one else has bespoken the ground; but a stranger would require the chief’s permission to settle. The chief’s land is well defined, and has recognised boundaries, but there seem to be no definite limits to the territory occupied by a tribe. The Mang’anja used to recognise certain animals as _nyama ya lundu_, ‘king’s meat,’ not allowed to be eaten by the people in general. Among these were the _nkaka_, or scaly ant-eater, whereof the Rev. D. C. Scott was on one occasion invited to partake by Ramakukane, and a certain kind of large frog or toad called _tesi_, said to be very delicate eating. It remains to speak of slavery, which has always been, in varying proportions, a feature of Bantu society. The outside slave _trade_ does not so much concern us here, as (in this part of Africa, at any rate) it is entirely an exotic thing, introduced and fostered by the Portuguese on one side and the Arabs on the other. And though this has been largely, if not wholly, done away with (it is certain that there was some smuggling going on, twelve years ago), yet domestic slavery, which is very difficult for governments to interfere with, still continues in fact, if not in name, and will only die out gradually. The proportion of slaves to free people is probably not large—unless all the Anyanja subject to the Angoni are counted as slaves—which is not, strictly speaking, correct; they are rather in the position of serfs or villeins. Slavery may be a matter of birth; the children of slaves, or of a slave mother and free father, are slaves also. Some slaves are persons taken prisoners in war, or sold (probably to pay a debt) by father, grandfather, or elder brother. Others may have been condemned to slavery as criminals, or bewitchers, or possessed of ‘the evil eye,’ and these are sold to some one at a distance—to get rid of them. Or they may be seized on account of a debt they cannot pay; or, lastly, they may voluntarily become slaves, in time of famine, in order to get food.