Sometimes this girl came to see her mother,
and we arranged the bath on the inflated skins, and had her towed
across for a few days. This was Masara's greatest happiness, but
her constant apprehension; the nightmare of her life was the
possibility that her daughter should be sold and parted from her.
The girl was her only and all absorbing thought, the sole object
of her affection: she was the moon in her mother's long night of
slavery; without her, all was dark and hopeless. The hearts of
slaves are crushed and hardened by the constant pressure of the
yoke; nevertheless some have still those holy feelings of
affection that nature has implanted in the human mind: it is the
tearing asunder of those tender chains that renders slavery the
horrible curse that it really is; human beings are reduced to the
position of animals, without the blessings enjoyed by the brute
creation--short memories and obtuse feelings.
Masara, Mahomet, Wat Gamma, and Bacheet, formed the establishment
of Ehetilla, which was the Arab name of our locality. Bacheet was
an inveterate sportsman and was my constant and sole attendant
when shooting; his great desire was to accompany me in
elephant-hunting, when he promised to carry one of my spare
rifles as a trusty gun-bearer, and he vowed that no animal should
ever frighten him.
Pages:
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274