The History of a Slave

Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston (1858–1927) was an explorer, colonial administrator and main participant in the British expansion in Africa, along with his friend Cecil Rhodes. Johnston published several accounts of his expeditions, as well as surveying native languages and culture. This text is Johnston's fictionalised account of the life of a slave, based on anecdotes he gathered on his travels. The protagonist describes his early life as the warrior son of the village chief in a brutal society where cannibalism and allegations of witchcraft were commonplace. When slavers attacked his village and captured him, 'Abu' faced a long journey across the country, survived by few, before serving a succession of masters. A vivid and eventful history of one man's survival through escape attempts, attacks by wild animals and relentless violence, which Johnston described as his attempt to give 'a realistic sketch of life in the Western Sudan'.