Incredible as it should seem, this barter6 of human beings still exists, and for the due comprehension of the second part of Dick Sands' story it must be borne in mind, that for the purpose of supplying certain colonies with slaves, there continue to be prosecuted8 such barbarous "man-hunts" as threaten almost to lay waste an entire continent with blood, fire, and pillage9.
The nefarious10 traffic as far as regards negroes does not appear to have arisen until the fifteenth century. The following are said to be the circumstances under which it had its origin. After being banished11 from Spain, the Mussulmans crossed the straits of Gibraltar and took refuge upon the shores of Africa, but the Portuguese12 who then occupied that portion of the coast persecuted13 the fugitives14 with the utmost severity, and having captured them in large numbers, sent them as prisoners into Portugal. They were thus the first nucleus15 of any African slaves that entered Western Europe since the commencement of the Christian era. The majority, however, of these Mussulmans were members of wealthy families, who were prepared to pay almost any amount of money for their release; but no ransom16 was exorbitant17 enough to tempt18 the Portuguese to surrender them; more precious than gold were the strong arms that should work the resources of their young and rising colonies. Thus baulked in their purpose of effecting a direct ransom of their captured relatives, the Mussulman families next submitted a proposition for exchanging them for a larger number of African negroes, whom it would be quite easy to procure19. The Portuguese, to whom the proposal was in every way advantageous20, eagerly accepted the offer; and in this way the slave-trade was originated in Europe.
By the end of the sixteenth century this odious21 traffic had become permanently22 established; in principle it contained nothing repugnant to the semi-barbarous thought and customs then existing; all the great states recognized it as the most effectual means of colonizing23 the islands of the New World, especially as slaves of negro blood, well acclimatized to tropical heat, were able to survive where white men must have perished by thousands. The transport of slaves to the American colonies was consequently regularly effected by vessels24 specially2 built for that purpose, and large dépôts for this branch of commerce were established at various points of the African coast. The "goods" cost comparatively little in production, and the profits were enormous.
Yet, after all, however indispensable it might be to complete the foundation of the trans-atlantic colonies, there was nothing to justify25 this shameful26 barter of human flesh and blood, and the voice of philanthropy began to be heard in protestation, calling upon all European governments, in the name of mercy and common humanity, to decree the abolition of the trade at once.
In 1751, the Quakers put themselves at the head of the abolitionist movement in North America, that very land where, a hundred years later, the war of secession burst forth27, in which the question of slavery bore the most conspicuous28 part. Several of the Northern States, Virginia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania prohibited the trade, liberating29 the slaves, in spite of the cost, who had been imported into their territories.
The campaign, thus commenced, was not limited to a few provinces of the New World; on this side of the Atlantic, too, the partisans30 of slavery were subject to a vigourous attack. England and France led the van, and energetically beat up recruits to serve the righteous cause. "Let us lose our colonies rather than sacrifice our principles," was the magnanimous watchword that resounded31 throughout Europe, and notwithstanding the vast political and commercial interests involved in the question, it did not go forth in vain. A living impulse had been communicated to the liberation-movement. In 1807, England formally prohibited the slave-trade in her colonies; France following her example in 1814. The two great nations then entered upon a treaty on the subject, which was confirmed by Napoleon during the Hundred Days.
Hitherto, however, the declaration was purely32 theoretical. Slave-ships continued to ply7 their illicit33 trade, discharging their living cargo34 at many a colonial port. It was evident that more resolute35 and practical measures must be taken to impress the enormity. Accordingly the United States in 1820, and Great Britain in 1824, declared the slave-trade to be an act of piracy36 and its perpetrators to be punishable with death. France soon gave in her adherence37 to the new treaty, but the Southern States of America, and the Spanish and Portuguese, not having signed the act of abolition, continued the importation of slaves at a great profit, and this in defiance38 of the recognized reciprocal right of visitation to verify the flags of suspected ships.
But although the slave-trade by these measures was in a considerable measure reduced, it continued to exist; new slaves were not allowed, but the old ones did not recover their liberty. England was now the first to set a noble example. On the 14th of May, 1833, an Act of Parliament, by a munificent39 vote of millions of pounds, emancipated40 all the negroes in the British Colonies, and in August, 1838, 670,000 slaves were declared free men. Ten years later, in 1848, the French Republic liberated41 the slaves in her colonies to the number of 260,000, and in 1859 the war which broke out between the Federals and Confederates in the United States finished the work of emancipation42 by extending it to the whole of North America.
Thus, three great powers have accomplished43 their task of humanity, and at the present time the slave-trade is carried on only for the advantage of the Spanish and Portuguese colonies, or to supply the requirements of the Turkish or Arab populations of the East. Brazil, although she has not emancipated her former slaves, does not receive any new, and all negro children are pronounced free-born.
In contrast, however, to all this, it is not to be concealed44 that, in the interior of Africa, as the result of wars between chieftains waged for the sole object of making captives, entire tribes are often reduced to slavery, and are carried off in caravans45 in two opposite directions, some westwards to the Portuguese colony of Angola, others eastwards46 to Mozambique. Of these miserable47 creatures, of whom a very small proportion ever reach their destination, some are despatched to Cuba or Madagascar, others to the Arab or Turkish provinces of Asia, to Mecca or Muscat. The French and English cruisers have practically very little power to control the iniquitous48 proceedings49, because the extent of coast to be watched is so large that a strict and adequate surveillance cannot be maintained. The extent of the odious export is very considerable; no less than 24,000 slaves annually50 reach the coast, a number that hardly represents a tenth part of those who are massacred or otherwise perish by a deplorable end. After the frightful51 butcheries, the fields lie devastated52, the smouldering villages are void of inhabitants, the rivers reek53 with bleeding corpses54, and wild beasts take undisputed possession of the soil. Livingstone, upon returning to a district, immediately after one of these ruthless raids, said that he could never have recognized it for the same that he had visited only a few months previously57; and all other travellers, Grant, Speke, Burton, Cameron, Stanley, describe the wooded plateau of Central Africa as the principal theatre of the barbarous warfare58 between chief and chief. In the region of the great lakes, throughout the vast district which feeds the market of Zanzibar, in Bornu and Fezzan, further south on the banks of the Nyassa and Zambesi, further west in the districts of the Upper Zaire, just traversed by the intrepid59 Stanley, everywhere there is the recurrence60 of the same scenes of ruin, slaughter61, and devastation62. Ever and again the question seems to be forced upon the mind whether slavery is not to end in the entire annihilation of the negro race, so that, like the Australian tribes of South Holland, it will become extinct. Who can doubt that the day must dawn which will herald63 the closing of the markets in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies, a day when civilized64 nations shall no longer tolerate the perpetration of this barbarous wrong?
It is hardly too much to say that another year ought to witness the emancipation of every slave in the possession of Christian states. It seems only too likely that for years to come the Mussulman nations will continue to depopulate the continent of Africa; to them is due the chief emigration of the natives, who, torn from their provinces, are sent to the eastern coast in numbers that exceed 40,000 annually. Long before the Egyptian expedition the natives of Sennaar were sold to the natives of Darfur and
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