THE SLAVE TRADE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 351, 29 June 1869, Page 3

THE SLAVE TRADE.

In a note upon Zanzibar and the east coast of Africa, published in the " Bulletin de la Societe de Ge*ographie," M.' Adrien Germain makes the following ; observations with regard to the Slave Trade : — " It is fr©m the region situated in the south of the Great Lakes, and in the north of the Portuguese province of Mozambique, that the slaves are carried off by the Arabs and sold either upon the coast or at Zanzibar, from whence a certain number is despatched to the Comore Islands and even to Mascate. The port of Quiloa is the principal point of exportation, and it can be said that slaves are furnished by all that part of Africa situated to the j north of the parallel of Zanzibar. The African colonies which contribute most slaves are the Mpguindo, the Niassa, the Kibisso, the Mzigona, and especially the! Miao, the women of which, par coquctterie, pierce the lip and upper jaw ; in such a frightful manner as to leave the tongue and the' bottom of the palate to view when their j mouths are shut, which gives them an aspect ! the most repulsive in the eyes of a European newly arrived. The Makona (the nearest peuplade to the province of Mozambique) are little valued in the Zanzibar market, the blacks of this race being ordinarily of a violent character and very much inclined to theft. If among the slaves one meets some Nyamezi, the tribes of which are established to the north of the fifth degree of south latitude, there are exceptions, and almost always individuals sold for debt or for the crime of adultery ; sometimes, also, children are sold by their parents during a famine. "No wordscan picturethe state of suffering, of misery and brutishness of the slaves debarking at Zanzibar from a boutre (a small Arab barge) where, heaped pell-mell, without other nourishment thau some grains of rice, they pass many days, after having undergone the forced marches which have brought them from their country to the coast : men and women, old and young, shockingly emaciated, entirely naked, with stupefied mien, the arms squeezed against the chest, silent and without strength, are landed at- the Customhouse. Then, after the duty is paid (which is two piastres a-head) they are led away by the auction crier, after having each received a piece of blue cotton with which to co ; ver himself or herself as the case may be. The slave market is held each day, except Friday,

from four to six o'clock, in the square situ!ated: Behind the fort, and is always most animated ; but I defy the coldest heart tio regard these groups of creatures without emotion, where suffering has even effaced maternal sentiment ; there children, some of whom, still at the breast, seek in vain a drop of milk ; these poor mothers, whose languishing looks turn upon groups of children of four or five years old, who only smile at the pitiless master who repulses them by his foot when the buyer goes away without having bought any of them. Standing against the wall, some young girls dressed in coloured cotton, the eyebrows painted with care, and the face covered with a yellow powder made from rose leaves ground with saffron, and highly esteemed by the coquettes of the country, are destined to adorn the harems, and I must say it, that they appear very well satisfied with the destiny which is reserved for them, and full of contempt for their companions who are called to lower destineis. "The buyers miss nothing; each examines the individual who suits him in the same fashion as we exa-nine a beast of burden, makes him walk, rua, bend, and straighten himself; inspects the teeth, and studies with much attention the state of the skin. During this time the crieur takes the slaves by the hand in aunouncing in a shrill voice their price and their qualities, aid neglects nothing that will go to increase their value ; it is not at Paris only que Ion sait Jaire Vartiele. At the end of three days the slave is adjudged to the highest bidder, or withdrawn from the market if the price does not suit the proprietor. A man from fifteen to thirty years fetches from 20 to 25 piastres (Sf r 40c) ; a child from five to ten years, from 5 to 8 piastres ; the women are more highly valued. "The first year proves very Hard for the slave, who knows neither the work nor the language of the country ; ,the change of water and climate readers him subject to the most cruel maladies. If he dies during this time, his body is thrown upon the shore, in the middle of brambles, where it lies as food for the jackals and birds of prey. How many times have unfortunate slaves been thrown there from the moment that all hope of curing them was lost ! " After some time the position of the slave is ameliorated ; he creates a " factitious " family, a mother, sisters, adopted brothers, and thus assures himself of assistance in case of sickness, and a tomb after his dea'.h; being no longer a stranger, he is better treated and makes a position in the house of bis master, where he works little, if indeed at all ; if he is employed upon the plantation, he can devote two days a week to the cultivation of a plot of land which suffices to produce him food ; in a word, the slave habituates himself to his position, and ends by finding it preferable to free life. The instances of emancipation are numerous, especially among the Arabs of the poorer class, on the condition, however, that the black turns Mussulman; it rarely happens that the slave who is elevated to the house of his master dies in servitude, more rarely still that the first generation is not liberated. Those who have been emancipated constitute a part of the family of their ancient master, whose name they take as their own, are present at all the fetes, nurse him if he is sick, and go into mourning at his death. "I have said that the slaves were generally well treated and happy; there are unfortunately exceptions ; often cruelties are practised, and these are the causes of theft and prostitution — crimes which are frequent in a population half bestial and deprived of all moral understanding. With the black, hunger excuses everything : " Dja naouma, hunger makes me ill," he cries to himself, and he believes it permits everything. Must I now speak of the tortures which some slaves are subjected to by an irritated and cruel master ? I have put an end myself to the torment of an unfortuuate woman who, retaken after baring disappeared for a day at most, perhaps to see her child, had received upon the chest and shoulders a potf ul of boiling water, and twenty strokes from a cane in order to accelerate the torture ; it was in vain that I expressed my indignation j before the sultan himself at such cruelty ; I only regret not having dealt out justice at the time of its occurrence. I could cite other j examples more cruel still, but to what purj pose ? Slavery, which Europeans themselves I have practiced for so long a time, ia now I disapproved of by society tout enliere ; no I longer are we to seek excuses for this terrible sore, which places man on a level with the brute, degrades him, deprives him of all his rights, and produces, unhappily, immorality ! and crime. Slavery should entirely dis- | appear, leaving the empires to the existence jof which it appears necessary to shrink down and perish before the triumph of civilisation, progress, and morality."