certainly the most general and most productive source of slavery.
"The desolations of war, moreover, often produce the second cause of slavery, famine; in which case a freeman becomes a slave to avoid a still greater calamity. There are many instances of freemen voluntarily surrendering their liberty to save their lives. During a great scarcity which lasted for three years, in the countries of the Gambia, great numbers of people became slaves in this manner. Dr. Laidley assured me that at that time many freemen came and begged with great earnestness to be put upon his slave-chain, to save them from perishing of hunger. Large families are often exposed to absolute want; and as the parents have almost unlimited authority over their children, it frequently happens, in all parts of Africa, that some of the latter are sold to purchase provisions for the rest of the family. When I was at Jarra, Daman Jumma pointed out to me three young slaves whom he had purchased in this manner.
"The third cause of slavery is insolvency. Of all the offences insolvency may be so called) to which the laws of Africa have affixed the punishment of slavery, this is the most common. A negro trader commonly contracts debts in some mercantile speculation, either from his neighbors, to purchase such articles as will sell to advantage in a distant market, or from the European traders on the coast — payment to be made in a given time. In both cases the situation of the adventurer is exactly the same. If he succeeds, he may secure an independency: if he is unsuccessful, his person and services are at the disposal of another.
