The slave-drivers were cruel and they chained the poor savages together in bunches of ten.

Each slave wore an iron ring around his neck and the chain passed through this ring and on to the rest of the ten.

For days and weeks and months they marched along, their chains clanking and their shoulders bending beneath the heavy weight.

From time to time the slave-drivers would jog them along with a few lashes from a four-cornered "hippo" hide _kiboko_, or whip.

Quite naturally the life was far from pleasant to the chain-gang and they watched eagerly for a chance to escape.