That a young man of fourteen years, white or Black, taken from his country and violently separated from his only protector in France, the only interlocutor with whom he is able to exchange a few words in the language of his fathers, seeks to escape from what he sees as a brutal slavery, this is not surprising, also the very fact of evasion is no more than a common incident and altogether European if not Parisian.

But what is much less banal, much more grave, is the physical and moral violence that the unfortunate hostage has been subject to, in the best of intentions, no doubt, but which amplified his mistrust to the highest level and doubled his anguish.

The XIXe Siècle newspaper recounts that, in effect, this unfortunate "king's son," brought into a tailor shop and first invited and then pressed to dress in a complete "high novelty" as well as polished shoes, considered the constraint that was forced upon him to be absolutely beyond him, and that he opposed the ceremony of his distortion with an energetic resistance.

All the good treatment of and all of the assistance of Colonel Archinard must have been completely forgotten in an instant by the young Sudanese who, up to this time treated like a prisoner of war, saw himself for the first time put into the ranks of common prisoners to who are made to wear the livery of the prison.

It can only be one of two things, in effect: either the son of King Ahmadou is a prisoner of war, and thus should be treated with all the respect due to that conditions, to his misfortune and to his rank; or he is a slave according to the African custom, and thus should immediately become free on arriving on French soil.

In no case should he be forced to break the customs of his compatriots and have the most horrible physical discomforts imposed upon him, under the pretext of inculcating him with the principles of civilization.

Respected in his mores and in his customs, and touched by the affection shown to him, the young Black became the friend almost the child of Colonel Archinard; harmed, submitted to the domination of another order, thwarted in his tastes, hurt in his sentiments, and, we might add, strongly uncomfortable in his armpits, he becomes a rebel, a fugitive, a runaway.

For a government like ours, who is seeking to assimilate Sudan and its kingdoms, it is an error to mistreat hostages and to offer clingy pants and fitted shoes to those we hope to subdue.

May Abdoulaye be left to dress according to his fancy, so he might give a good report to his father. That, it seems, would be worth regiments.