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JAN 1992. I paid my first visit to Uzuakoli. It·was then a famous market, and notorious as the centre of a clandestine slave trade. Mr Christie had been been once and had sent a young man to try to open work. I went to see how he was getting; on and to try to persuade the people to accept a teacher.

The distance from Bende is eight miles of very bad road. I set out one morning with a youth to act as interpreter intending to walk there and back. On arrival I found that the young man left by Mr. Christie had not made the slightest impression. I went to the head chief's house and told him the purpose of my visit. He said he would call out his people and directed me to a small clearing, and sent a box for me to sit on. I sat there for about half-an-hour and then a number of men began to come along. Instead of saluting me they gravely took up position in a ring around the clearing,- to the number of about three hundred. I noticed that all were armed with knives, or flintlock guns, or spears.

Presently the chiefs came along, about nine of' them. They came into the circle and stood in front of me, and their spokesman, a big grey-haired man, began to address me. At first he spoke quietly but soon began to get excited and called on the men around to confirm his words from time to time. They

responded very vigorouoly, and were evidently working themselves into an excited state of· feeling. During a pause in the chiefs speech I was able to get him to give my interpreter a chance to tell me what he had been saying. It was as follows. He had said that they did not want white men in their town or to have anything to do with it, because the coming of the white men into the locality some seven years before had done them harm. In the Old days before the advent of the white men, Uzuakili had been a very strong place with many warriors. They had fought against all the towns round about and had been able to win many victories, to kill many people, and to take many prisoners. But now the

white men had stopped all that, and they did not want white men. Further, in the old days, the chief's judged all cases in their own town and recevied fees of goats, sheep, oxen, chickems, etc, from the parties. Thus the chiefs had been able to get wealth by this public service. But now the white men had built Courts and had said that all cases must be tried in them. The chiefs had lost this source of income, and they did not want white men in their town. Further, in the old days they had possessed slaves and had dealt in slaves. But now too white men were stopping slavery, and their market was losing importance. And if a school should be erected in their town the slaves who were brought in for clandestine sale would run into the school and secure protection. So they did not want white men in their town.

These were not the exaot words but contain the gist of his argument. He had become very excited.. STORY CONTINUES