It might reasonably be conjectured, that if it be practicable to conclude an anti-slavery treaty with any African ruler, it must be especially so with one professing the tenets of the Christian faith, and who may thus be supposed capable of receiving moral arguments—with a despot whose every will is law, who is guided chiefly by avarice and by self-interest, and who considers that the importation of slaves has a tendency to introduce heathenish ceremonies among his subjects. Sáhela Selássie is already fully sensible of the possibility of dispensing with slavery as a domestic institution, by the adoption of European machinery, and of the practice of other Abyssinian states, where money is dispensed to the visitor in lieu of dirgo, or daily maintenance. His superstitions may be worked upon with the best effect by the fear of entailing the curses and imprecations of many thousand enslaved fellow-creatures who annually pass through his dominions; and his eyes have been opened to the fact, that the whole of these wretched beings become converts to Mohammadanism—a faith upon which every Abyssinian looks down with abhorrence. The same voice that at European intercession commanded the release of many hundred Galla prisoners of war, could at once order the abrogation of domestic slavery within the kingdom; but its abolition before the establishment of British commerce shall have rendered His Majesty independent of the slave-dealing Adaïel would be delusive. It would do harm instead of doing good; and whilst it led to little actual reduction of human misery, it would arouse the worst passions of the entire surrounding Mohammadan population. For Shoa is at this moment solely dependent upon the Danákil trader, not only for every description of foreign merchandise, but also for salt, which here constitutes the chief circulating medium of the realm; and the first inducement to the importation of this indispensable commodity, is found in the great profits derived from the traffic in slaves purchased at Abd el Russool.
In Shoa, too, every Christian subject is more or less interested in the continuance of slave importations; and notwithstanding that the trammels of the despot, who receives unbounded homage, render each in fact a bondsman, he is in no danger of being kidnapped and driven into slavery. No one would dare to disobey the royal fiat; but, involving as it must great personal hardship to all, it could not fail to be attended with universal loss of popularity to the monarch. No such difficulty would attend the formation of a treaty of suppression in the northern provinces of Christian Abyssinia, where slavery in the true acceptation of the term has no existence, excepting in so far as it is carried on by the Moslem traders, of whom both ruler and people are comparatively independent. Thus in Gondar and Tigré, where domestic slavery is neither practised nor advocated by prince or subject, the external traffic might readily be crushed, and with the greatest advantage, through the friendly sentiments entertained by the present patriarch.
The spiritual influence exerted by Abba Salama over the mind of all classes, high as well as low—the spell by which he holds his supreme power—is acknowledged by every province, however remote, which constitutes a remnant of the ancient Ethiopic empire. Access to hitherto sealed portions of the interior, by which the objects of humanity would not less be forwarded than those of commerce, science, and geography, can thus readily be obtained through his assistance. They offer gold in return for the blessings of Christianity and civilisation, and are believed to be accessible also from the coast of the Indian ocean. But it ought not to be forgotten in England, that, independently of other considerations, the surest hopes of working any favourable change in the present degraded state of the Abyssinian church, or of substantially promoting the views of philanthropy in Ethiopia Proper, must be considered to rest solely upon the good feeling, the potent influence, and the professed assistance of his holiness the Abuna, and that one better disposed is not likely ever to fill the episcopal throne at Gondar.
Volume Three—Chapter Thirty Eight.
Commerce with the Eastern Coast of Africa.
The highlands included betwixt Abyssinia and the equator are unquestionably among the most interesting regions in Africa, whether viewed with reference to their climate, their soil, their productions, or their population. When the Ethiopic empire extended its sway over the greater part of the eastern horn, they doubtless supplied myrrh and frankincense to the civilised portions of the globe, together with the “sweet cane,” mentioned by the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, as being brought “from a far country.” The slave caravan still affords a limited outlet to their rich produce; but the people, ignorant and naturally indolent, are without protection, and they possess no stimulus to industry. Vice alone flourishes amongst them, and their fair country forms the very hotbed of the slave-trade. Hence arise wars and predatory violence, and hence the injustice and oppression which sweep the fields with desolation, bind in fetters the sturdy children of the soil, and cover the population with every sorrow, “with lamentation, and mourning, and woe.” It has already been remarked, that in early times, as early probably as the days of Moses, the authority of Egypt extended deep into the recesses of Africa, and there is reason to believe, at later dates, far into those countries to the southward of Abyssinia which are accessible from the shores of the Indian Ocean. The eastern coast, from beyond the Straits of Bab el Mandeb, in all probability as far south as Sofala, the Ophir of Solomon, was well-known to the enterprising merchants of Tyre, and to the sovereigns of Judea. In still later periods, the conquering Arabs, when they had become followers of the false prophet, extended their sway over all this coast as far as the twenty-fifth degree of south latitude. The remains of their power, of their comparative civilisation, and of their religion, are found throughout to the present day; and notwithstanding that their rule had greatly declined when the Portuguese first landed on this part of Africa, four hundred years ago, it was still strong and extensive, and constant commercial intercourse was maintained with India.
No portion of the continent has, however, excited less modern interest than the eastern coast; owing perhaps to the extreme jealousy with which the Portuguese have guarded its approach, and withheld the limited information gained since the days of Vasco de Gama. The illiberal spirit of their government, both civil and ecclesiastic, has had the natural effect of degrading those maritime tribes placed in immediate juxta-position with the white settlers, and of effectually repelling the more spirited and industrious inhabitants of the highlands, whose prudence and independence have baffled attempted inroads. Many a fair seat of peace and plenty, vitiated by the operation of the slave-trade, has been converted into a theatre of war and bloodshed; and the once brilliant establishments reared by the lords of India and Guinea, now scarcely capable of resisting the attacks of undisciplined barbarians, here, as elsewhere, exhibit but the wreck and shadow of their former vice-regal splendour.
Although free to all nations, the eastern coast, from Sofala to Cape Guardufoi, has in later years been little frequented by any, save the enterprising American, whose star-spangled banner is often found in parts where others would not deign to traffic; and who, being thus the pioneer through untried channels to new countries, reaps the lucrative harvest which they are almost sure to afford. English ships from India have occasionally visited the southern ports for cargoes of ivory and ambergris, but, in the absence of any rival, the Imam of Muscat is now, with his daily increasing territories, fast establishing a lucrative monopoly from Mombás and Zanzibar.