A PITIFUL STORY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6296, 21 January 1882, Page 7

A PITIFUL STORY.

Mb. Littler, Q.C., writes that a-iew*months ago, when in Constantinople, he was told that an Englishman had complained as to the treatment of two of his.sons iu a troupe of acrobats who were supposed to be.Arabs, and who performed some time ago in England as the "Original and Genuine Troupe of Beni-zoug-zoug Beduoin Arabs." 'He understood further that many of those lada(who had performed before the Sultan as Arabs) were English ; that 14 English boys, all born of London parents, had . been sold,'at ages varying from three years and ten months to six years, for terms varying from 10 to 14 years, to a French Arab, calling himself Hadjali ben Mohammed, for sums of from 303. te 50s. each. The method of the sale was a duly stamped deed of apprenticeship. The lads had been with their owner half over Europe, and are now in Constantinople. Mr. Littler thus describes the condition in which he found them : — "They were housed in a Turkish house in tne most Turkish quarter of Stamboul. In the absence of their owner I succeeded in gaining admission. I thus saw these pomlittle creatures on a ' surprise' visit. They were huddled together iu a. room about 15 feet square, the sole furniture of which was a few boxes containing their tumbling dresses. They were horribly dirty, barefooted, and clad solely in a pair of baggy Turkish trousers and a man's old filthy shirt. There was no washing place in or near the room. There was no bed, and they told me they were fed from a large round tin pot with some stew or skilly, the solid parts of which they tore with their hands, while the liquid part they drank from pannikins. They never tasted tea, coffee, or other drink than water, and had no food other than this disgusting mixture and bread. They were never allowed to dress .decently save to perform, nor were they ever allowed to quit the house save for the same purpose. They had no toys, games, or amusements, nor were they allowed auy other pastime but practising their acrobatic performances. All had their heads, and many their bodies, covered with scars, partly the result of their owner a brutality, partly of wounds from falls caused in learning their miserable trade. Few of them could speak English. Some could speak French, and some nothing but Arabic. They have never been iu a place of worship in their lives. They are ignorant of the very name of God, and not one of them can read or write a line of any language under the sun. I grieve to say that, save the Arabs, all are, as I have said, of London parentage. No other Christian nation seems to have produced any such degraded.parents to the hand of Hadjali ben Mohammed. Thanks to the promptitude of Mr. Fawcett aud his very able officer, Mr.' Thompson, the governor of the British gaol at Constantinople; these poor lads,_ who have been able to attract Consular notice before,' have all been registered as British subjects. What their condition is may be further guessed when I tell you that, having asked some of them if they wished to go back to England and had a unanimous answer in the affirmative, I was not a little surprised on seeing three more of thein the next day to find them as unanimous in the negative. This naturally roused my suspicion, aud after a little ohat one poor little fellow sidled np to me and said they none of them meant it; and eventually I elicited that, having been asked by their owner if they meant to say they wished to go home and answered ' Yes,' they had all been soundly thrashed aud brought up to the Consulate brcakfastless, and without even a drink of water." Mr. Littler, after detailing the steps taken to secure the return of the boys to England, appeals for subscriptions to a fund which is intended to make a provision for them. They are to be brought back to the country and taken care of in one pf Dr. Barnado s homes.—Globe.