The origin of the Mgwana or Freeman may be briefly told. When the Arabs conquered Zanzibar, they found the black subjects of the Portuguese to be of two classes, Watuma (slaves) and Wangwana (freemen). The Freemen were very probably black people who had either purchased their freedom by the savings of their industry or were made free upon the death of their masters; these begat children who, being born out of bondage, were likewise free. Arab rulers, in classifying their subjects, perceived no great difference in physique or general appearance between those who were slaves and those who were free, both classes belonging originally to the same negro tribes of the interior. Thus, when any of these were brought before the authorities convicted of offences, the question naturally asked was, “Are you a Mtuma, a slave, or a Mgwana, a freeman?” A repetition of these questions through a long course of years established the custom of identifying the two classes of Zanzibar negroes as Watuma—slaves—and Wangwana—freemen. Later, however, came a new distinction, and the word Watuma, except in special and local cases, was dropped, for, with the advent of the free native traders direct from the mainland, and the increase of traffic between Zanzibar and the continent, as well as out of courtesy to their own slaves, the Arabs began to ask the black stranger, “Are you Mgwana, a freeman, or Mshensi, a pagan?” In disputes among themselves the question is still asked, “Are you a slave or a freeman?” but when strangers are involved, it is always, “Are you Mgwana, a freeman or a native of Zanzibar, or a Mshensi, a pagan or an uncircumcised native of the mainland?” It will be thus seen that the word “Wangwana” is now a generic, widely used, and well understood for the coloured natives of Zanzibar. When, therefore, the term is employed in this book, it includes alike both the slaves and the freemen of Zanzibar.