"Without inflicting any lengthy arguments on you, I will commence by saying that the regions inhabited by the negroes are wretched, principally because the interest of the slave-dealers lies in perpetually fomenting in them civil war. I will add that out of every three hundred slaves dragged from their homes, scarcely one-third reach the, comparatively speaking, civilized country alluded to, and that the remainder are left to rot in the desert, victims of fatigue, exhaustion, and disease.
"Looking at the question from an elevated point of view, I will sum up in these words—Slavery is a disgrace, is contrary to all the laws of morality, and ought to be opposed in every possible way and destroyed. There you have my sentiments, frankly and concisely expressed, and they are the more worthy of respect, seeing that if I fall back upon my ancestors I find in my maternal great-uncle, the Count de Chabanne, one who was, before the Revolution, the largest slave-holder in St. Domingo. My memory also recalls the fact that I was born in a French colony, Guadaloupe, where slavery was in full force, and that the emancipation, proclaimed by Lamartine, in 1848, and decreed by the Provisional Government, deprived me of the greater portion of my revenues, a circumstance which I cannot regret.
"Without re-entering Matamma, we made direct for the Nile, where we found our vessel, and towards ten o'clock at night we set our prisoners down gently on the bank, after having distributed some eatables amongst them, so that they should have nothing wherewith to reproach us. I could not feel any uneasiness as to the fate of these men; they would not be long before they resumed their usual calling, about which Omar and Ali had, during the return journey, given us some curious information. Any penniless adventurer, by the mere mention of his intention to form a slave-catching expedition, can easily borrow in Egypt the funds necessary for his enterprise. He then engages a number of villains, renegades of all religions, runaway criminals, escaped convicts, blackguards of every hue, the scum of every country, and with this retinue he sails up the Nile as far as Gondokoro; there he disembarks, and proceeds into the interior until he arrives at some negro village. Here he displays his glass beads, necklaces, bracelets, and all the countless trifles with which he has provided himself to excite the cupidity of the negroes. The latter hasten to make their purchases, and offer in payment their current coin. 'No,' say the traders, 'we want slaves in exchange for our wares.' The buyers have none to give, but that difficulty is soon overcome. The chief of the tribe proposes a razzia into the neighbouring district, and, as this is the sole object the traders have in view, the offer is accepted. The village selected for attack is surrounded and set on fire, the herds of cattle are taken possession of, and violent hands are laid on all the women, children, and such men as have not fallen in the fight.
"Then comes the dividing of the spoil; the glass beads, &c., are generously handed over to the negroes, whilst the traders keep the slaves for their own share, subsequently either selling them to other adventurers, who take them to the south-east, to the great slave-market of Zanzibar, or leading them, at their own risk and peril, further north to the countries where Islamism and slavery prevail.
"Do not ask me for anything more now, my dear fellow, for after so eventful a day I am in a hurry to find a quiet nook on board our vessel, wherein, with a quiet conscience, I may obtain a well-earned repose."
CHAPTER XLII.
"When I awoke my eyes were greeted by the most charming, peaceful scene it has ever fallen to my lot to witness.
"The Nile, for a considerable distance, is interspersed with a number of islets (called in these parts the ninety-nine islands) which may be very easily mistaken for clumps of verdure and flowers. On either bank innumerable aquatic plants and tropical creepers float in the stream, or, springing up from the shore, seek shelter under the tamarinds, soonts, and palms. The rounded roofs of the riverside villages recall to our minds the summer-houses of an English garden.
"To this pleasing tableau succeeds very quickly a most picturesque sight. We now began to feel the influence of the sixth cataract. The Nile, instead of flowing in majestic breadth, becomes suddenly contracted, and is converted into a torrent, walled on either side by cliffs, and carrying us in imagination to the passes in the Pyrenees. The peak of Raouian and the valley-straits of Sablouk complete the illusion.
"We land for the purpose of visiting the little village of Dasrurab and the green plain surrounding it. In the middle of this plain I notice a number of tripod-shaped tressels, the object of which it is beyond me to describe. Ali undertakes to enlighten me. It appears that just about harvest time flocks of birds fly from all parts of Nubia to collect the grain, in anticipation of the owner thereof. The latter have hit upon no better idea for the protection of their property than to place at intervals these tressels or stands, on each of which a slave has to squat during the whole of the day, thus taking the place of those dressed-up figures with which we in France frighten away the birds. The wretched creatures condemned, under a scorching sun, to play the part of living scare-crows, are as a rule the aged of both sexes, who, incapable from infirmity of gaining a livelihood in any other way, thus terribly earn the morsel of bread which their master condescends to throw to them. Most assuredly, my dear Pommerelle, the more I reflect, the less I regret, if indeed I ever regretted it, my yesterday's expedition against the slave-traders. Don't let anybody talk to me again of the ease and comfort enjoyed by the Eastern slave. As long as they are ornamental they are taken the greatest care of, they are decked out and polished till they positively shine, but as soon as age deteriorates them, they may rot on any dung-hill.