gious view of the question.
We who do keep slaves have a totally different experience. You cannot
understand, you cannot sympathise with us."

"No, truly, we can _not_ understand you," said Harold earnestly, "and
God forbid that we should ever sympathise with you in this matter. We
detest the gross injustice of slavery, and we abhor the fearful
cruelties connected with it."

"That is because, as I said, you are not in our position," rejoined the
Senhor, with a shrug of his shoulders. "It is easy for you to take the
philanthropic view, which, however, I admit to be the best, for in the
eyes of God all men are equal, and though the African be a degraded man,
I know enough of him to be sure that he can be raised by kindness and
religion into a position not very inferior to our own; but we who keep
slaves cannot help ourselves we _must_ act as we do."

"Why so?--is cruelty a necessity?" asked Harold.

"Yes, it is," replied the Senhor decidedly.

"Then the abolition of slavery is a needcessity too," growled Disco, who
had hitherto looked on and listened in silent wonder, debating with
himself as to the propriety of giving Senhor Gamba, then and there, a
sound thrashing with his own whip!

"You see," continued the Portuguese, paying no attention to Disco's
growl,--"You see, in order to live out here I must have slaves, and in
order to keep slaves I must have a whip. My whip is no worse than any
other whip that I know of. I don't justify it as right, I simply defend
it as necessary. _Wherever slavery exists, discipline must of necessity
be brutal_. If you keep slaves, and mean that they shall give you the
labour of their bodies, and of their minds also, in so far as you permit
them to have minds, you must degrade them by the whip and by all other
means at your disposal until, like dogs, they become the unhesitating
servants of your will, no matter what that will may be, and live for
your pleasure only. It will never pay me to adopt your philanthropic,
your religious views. I am here. I _must_ be here. What am I to do?
Starve? No, not if I can help it. I do as others do--keep slaves and
act as the master of slaves. I must use the whip. Perhaps you won't
believe me," continued Senhor Gamba, with a sad smile, "but I speak
truth when I say that I was tender-hearted when I first came to this
country, for I had been well nurtured in Lisbon; but that soon passed
away--it could not last. I was the laughing-stock