NIGERIA UNDER BRITISH RULE 461 where all industries are based on slave labour, slave power takes the place which steam and electric power take in the West. It cannot be suddenly abolished without a universal dislocation of industrial life. Slaveryis at present the only form of labour contract known in many districts of Northern Nigeria, and before it can be done away with, time is needed for other forms of labour contract to be substituted. My husband, whose opinions I am quoting in regard to the whole of this important subject, and who, as his early career has publicly proclaimed, is among the most convinced opponents of slavery, has pointed out, in memoranda intended for the instruction of the Residents, that a substantial return is given by the master for the work of the slave. The slave is protected, housed, clothed, and fed. In many cases he is allowed to employ a portion of his time for his own exclusive benefit, and his rights are carefully protected by Koranic law. It is not wise to encourage a reckless rejection of these present advantages without full consideration of his possible future position.

The slaves of Northern Nigeria may be divided into two classes, household slaves, and farm slaves. The household slaves are domestic slaves in the sense usually understood, though they frequently rise to positions of great responsibility and independence. The status of farm slaves differs from that of household slaves, and is rather that of serfs attached to the soil, than of slaves in the common sense of the term. They are inalienable from the land. They cannot legally be sold. They have certain rights as regards produce, the houses they live in, the land which they are allowed to cultivate for themselves, and the time which is allotted to them for their own use. They form, in fact, the body of the agricultural population, and any sudden change which should lead these people to abandon the land and flock into the towns would manifestly be disastrous. The slaves of See the description given by Hume of the slaves of England under the Saxons.